ES4O: Visage of Morrowind
by Alastor Nightshade
Summary: Eso, a long-since-forgotten soldier of the Black Marsh, struggles with life under the shadow of his failures. Circumstance brings him hope in the form of a Dunmer, who excites his sense of adventure. Arc One Completed. Arc Two on the way.
1. Chapter 1

Black Marsh, or Argonia to the pointed-eared, was the perfect place for me. It was dark and cold, with swamp land and Hist for as far as I cared to look. It acted as our home, the only home in Tamriel where the scaled races could fear no bigotry. No food-stuffed humans, disgusting green men, pointed-eared wenches, nor disgusting fur-beasts. It was as perfect as I could ask for.

_**The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Visage of Morrowind**_

_**Episode One - Let me see your face... You are not the one in my dreams.**_

_**Theme: **__**http://www**__**(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=jA1EuCu2_Fk**_

_**Audiomachine - Battle of the Kings**_

I never considered leaving my home, or putting up my blade for an easier life, letting others do the fighting for me. Not before the battle that took place on my land. The white men, the food-stuffed imperials and their distasteful kin, they ravaged our home and soaked the soil in our native blood. The marshes themselves became nothing but pools for the blood of our small militia. We had nothing to fear but the words of our despisers, and could not be less prepared for the invasion... They came in small groups, one after the other invading and attacking... Imperials led groups of Breton and Redguard, brought together under the same emblem on the crests of their armor. Cyrodiil...

I was Lead Commanding Officer of what militia the Black Marsh had at the time, and fought with the spirit of my race in the veins of my iconic blade. The claymore that our people awarded their "strongest warrior", the one worthy of guiding their hand in a furious battle. It's crimson stained metal forged from the Daedra, its hilt a symbolic pair of crossed talons, three extending in both directions, embedded with a jeweled Argonian head at the pommel. I was a figure of respect amongst my people, the strongest warrior and wielder of this amazing tool, something I no longer deserved.

I fought to earn it, that honor of a weapon. I fought ruthlessly with nothing but a thirst for blood and the inspiration of an entire race backing me up. But it wasn't enough.

My men slaughtered all about the battle field, enough blood in the soil to reduce it to mud, I made my last stand. In the name of our proud race, I raised that blade high one more time, and tore through the ranks of peons and soldiers... One by one they hit the ground just as my men did, the edge of my weapon, our weapon, burning through flesh and ripping through rivers of blood. I came to the head of this army... My human counterpart in this war.

He was a smug, cocky Imperial, more worthy to taste the Daedric weapon through his throat. His helm covered most of what his armor did not, clad in just as much armor as I and armed with a fearsome blade and massive shield. I refused the helm, but the rest of me was protected by the powerful Glass. My furious red eyes burned with a passion to kill him, as his blue eyes laughed at my attempts. I was tired and out of breath, gritting my teeth and fangs just to stand, while he seemed none the more rested... He called himself a 'Blade', his name the only word that didn't cross his lips.

We stopped and stared as we conversed, exchanging curses and slurs towards the other. He complimented me on my spirit, as well as my unique appearance... He claimed the scales around my eyes were the darkest shade of black he'd ever seen, and the surrounding crimson that covered the rest of me almost scared him. The black spines that jut from the back of my skull, and the two horns that aimed back with them, features he claimed he'd never noticed on another of "my kind".

I refused a word, other than "Fuck you," and "Vile human"... I charged at him with the rest of my adrenaline, and he charged back, synching his voice with mine as we let out battle cries. He slashed me only once, a diagonal strike from the right hip to the left shoulder... Effortlessly, his blade carved through my armor and pierced my skin, rupturing my scales and spilling my blood... I could taste it, the liquid seeping from my insides... He only laughed.

As my worn body fell to the ground, the wound throbbing and burning with every ounce of blood lost, I could feel my pride shattering... The sword that took my dignity pierced the ground in front of my broken form, its holster laying beside it. He kneeled before me, and placed a hand atop my skull...

"If you're the best this dying race had, you never stood a chance. This land belongs to Cyrodiil, now. And what's left of your energy belongs to me..." He whispered, feeling the warm glow of his palm against my rough skin. I could feel it being drained, everything that kept me alive... He was feeding from my power... The spells I knew, techniques I create, all of them he stole from me...

"The steel of this blade is tainted with your blood, pond-dweller... It's a shame to be carrying it on my person."

I growled... I cursed, I cried... I wanted to scream, I wanted to rip him apart but I had nothing left... I had nothing but my spirit, which soon became crushed and broken under his retreating shadow. What remained of his army followed him beyond the veil of trees...

Innocents and survivors looked on at what had become of their land, a shower of blood and gore, dead bodies and defeated heros laying there, lifeless. What little magicka remained in my spirit went towards the tending of my wounds, but it wasn't enough. I held the deep gash with one curled fist, the other focusing on raising my body from the ground, pushing with all of the strength I had just to lean on my knees... I wanted to see the horizon that I fought for, I wanted to see the sky from the view of Black Marsh one more time...

I quickly stripped myself of the armor and tossed it aside, using my sword as a cane to lean on as I moved for the next level; sitting up. My torso exposed and legs covered in black leather, the survivors of Black Marsh watched me with tears in their eyes. They watched my suffering, and could feel the pain of defeat that lingered in my heart. They saw what had become of their militia, because of my failure. They saw what would become of Black Marsh, because of my failure. They saw a broken war hero, and in my reflection in the blood pools formed from my own bleeding slits, I saw it too.

Eso, that powerful Argonian the people of Black Marsh trusted their lives to and blessed with their most sacred possession was no more than a whisper. The creature feared by Oblivion, driven by pride and spirit, was no longer. That wasn't my kind of life, not anymore...


	2. Chapter 2

Warning: The following content contains strong, suggestive language and sexual situations. If you were easily offended, you shouldn't be on this site, but if you are there's your warning.

_**The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Visage of Morrowind**_

_**Episode Two - Stop! You've Violated the Law!**_

_**Theme: **__**http://www**__**(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=jA1EuCu2_Fk**_

_**Audiomachine - Battle of the Kings**_

A bored sigh brushed through the spaces between my teeth, the tip of my index talon tracing the lines of my palm. I hid my face from those familiar faces of Chorrol that wandered by under the hood of a black cloak, its tattered and torn cloth falling from my neck to wrap around my shoulders very slightly, its ridged edges ending at the base of my spine. It was my blanket in the cold, my shade in the heat, and my comfort in the dark.

A young Altmer(High Elf) child and his mother walked by me one day with my back to the local bar, sitting in the dust and resting over my knees. I could smell alcohol on the breath of the woman from down here, a snarl escaping my lips.

"Mommy," He asked. I felt a cliche coming on... "What is that thing..?"

The woman turned her gaze towards my bored figure, and I'm sure the first thing she saw was my scales. She responded. "That's an Argonian, you don't remember? A couple of them live here in Chorrol..."

"But.. what _are_ they?"

I stayed quiet.

"Well... they're kind of like the dragons in your story books, except they can breath under water... like slaughter fish."

"So... he's a dragon... fish?"

My eye twitched.

"Hey!" I barked. "What do dragons and slaughter fishes have in common, little boy?"

"Hm..?" He asked, a little scared.

"They _eat_ people!" I growled, purposely deepening my voice to scare the kid. I let his mother see the red in my eyes before kneeling my head once more, hearing his feet pound the ground as he ran.

"H-Hey! Come back!" The mother cried, chasing her child down the road.

I crossed my arms atop my knees. "Dragon-fish..." I snarled again. "What kind of ridiculous-ass name..."

"Stop!" I heard in the distance. "You've violated the law! Pay the court a fine or serve your sentence!"

It deserved a raise of my head, I decided, peering at the scene curiously. Something to stop the boredom, maybe.

First thing I saw were the legs of a female Dunmer(Dark Elf), grey-blue skin blurring by with the pacing of several Imperial guards chasing in tandem. They pulled their short swords on her as they chased up and down the road, kind of funny to watch... I got a few laughs out of the spectacle.

The Imperials cornered the girl at the fountain towards the main gate, and she laughed nervously as they slowly approached. "Your stolen goods are now–"

The three guards stopped mid-sentence to stare, not at the Dunmer but behind her at the figure standing balanced on the fountain edge. The torn edges of his short cloak danced behind him like a cape, exposing an Akaviri Katana poised across his back, a leather belt holstering a pair of daggers on the right hip, and the leather clothes of a low-class commoner. These included black pants and boots, with a grey shirt purposely torn a little up the stomach, displaying a long scar tracing farther than the rags exposed. The guards focused quickly on the imperial mark on the holster of his Katana, signaling him as one of the Blades.

Pretty dramatic of me, I thought. I made sure they saw my sword, that calmed them down.

"The Dunmer is with me, don't you impotent Imperials pay attention to shit?" I complained. She stared at me. "The items she stole belong to me, and I allowed her to take them from me to test her skills in stealth. She's reconnaissance, dammit."

"U-Um..." One of the guards uttered.

"Go ask the Countess, because apparently you three weren't there to hear the message. My name is Talasma, I run the Oak and Crosier. Go!" I demanded of them.

They scattered and ran, scared of my demanding tone. I waited until they were out of my sight before acknowledging the Dunmer, unable to hold back a hefty laugh.

"What the hell..?" She asked.

"What?"

"You're not Talasma... She's a Khajiit..."

"Yeah, I know," I crouched down to better speak to the elf. "She's just an asshole."

"..."

"I'm not a Blade either, but don't tell them that."

"So... who and what are you, then? And why help me?" The Dunmer tilted her head, a little wary and paranoid of my assistance, as all of the up-tight pointed-ears are.

"You made me laugh, Chorrol is pretty damn boring and I really needed that laugh... Figured I'd keep you from getting cut up and served to Talasma."

"Talasma... What?" She asked, completely confused. I laughed again, this was all too fun. "What do you mean served to Talasma, she eats people?"

"Nah, but have you ever had Kahjiit food? I'd much rather eat people than that," I smiled. "But enough about her furry ass, you have a name Dunmer?"

"Althea Illet Dravasa, do you, strange Argonian?"

"Eso," I said. "Just Eso."

I jumped down from the ledge to stand eye-to-eye with the Dark Elf, just as she was to say "Nice to meet you," I walked off.

"Hey!" She called. "Where are you going?"

"To sleep," I called back, arms crossed and head knelt as I walked.

"Wait!" She chased me. "If you're not a Blade, can you at least fight? You carry around a lot of equipment."

I laughed again, this Dunmer was full of them. "I know my way around a knife or two, yes. That it?"

"N-No!" Althea responded with a flustered face. "Listen, just hear me out?"

I kept walking. "I'm listening."

"There's this dungeon not too far from here," She began. "It's called Moranda, and I've been told there's some serious money to be made raiding these dungeons..."

"So what? You want me to go in there for you?" I asked.

"Not for me, _with_ me... I've been informed of a statue in those ruins that I want, but it's protected inside..." She sighed.

"Again, so what? You've got a weapon, and all of you elves know some kind of magic. Do it yourself..."

"Look, I'm all for looting the place but dying is not on my list of things to do! If I thought I could take them myself, I wouldn't be asking for help. I'll pay you, 500 gold once we've secured the treasures, then you never have to see my face again. Sound good?"

I stopped and raised my head at her direction, only enough for her to see my eyes. I thought about it, for only a moment, before speaking again. "All this for a statue?" I sighed.

I could see her smiling. "Does that mean you'll do it?"

"...500 gold, right?"

She hugged me, more than obviously excited. I could feel the scar burn with her touch, but at the same time... It was nice to feel respected. She dressed in light, leather armor that made my skin crawl and scales twitch. I didn't see that many Dunmer in Chorrol, and she easily stood out as eccentric... I was almost tempted to hug her back before another distant voice forced a laugh out of me.

"There she is! There's the elf that stole my club!"

Oh crap...

Running towards us from down the road was a nice and ugly Orc in shiny armor. I sung in my head, _Don't let it be _this_ elf... Let it be that ugly Altmer mom..._

Althea stood behind me, laughing quiet and nervous. Of course...

When the Orc came close, he growled at me and I kneeled my head once more, growling back. "Out of the way, pondscum..."

"She stole a club, and you're freaking out... I always thought your people kept a few extras stashed in the waves of fat you carry around..."

"Telling an Orc off... Are you mental?" Althea whispered.

The Orc growled again, preparing a fist at his side. He stared at me for a good moment, the hood of my cloak blocking out his ugly face from my view. A good foot taller than me, and several hundred pounds heavier, I didn't care much. Less than a second later, the fist came at me, and a lean of my body avoided it. A rising knee struck the wrist of the Orc, and a turn of my waist brought a roundhouse to his hairless head.

I threatened to pull a dagger once I regained my composure, only to find him on the ground... _It's been so long,_ I thought. Althea was quiet for a good moment of time, observing the fallen hostile and double-taking my stance. We found ourselves staring at each other once again, waiting for the other to say something. If she had the fight in her to steal from an Orc, I may have gotten myself into something more fun than I thought... Just when I was about to speak, Althea began looting the body for gold with an excited smile. "By the end of the week, I'm going to be rich..." I heard her mumble.

With the moment successfully ruined, I knelt my head to once more conceal my features. "500 gold, Althea?"

She laughed. "Every bit of 500 gold, Eso."


	3. Chapter 3

I spent that night dwelling on my answer. The Dunmer and I came to an agreement that we would travel at the early peak of sunrise. Getting to the dungeon of Moranda would be no problem at all, and take less than an hour to find... The ease of the search, however, is made up for with the creatures inside. I shouldn't say that I was afraid, no... Farthest from it. My hands and feet shook, and I could feel a chill linger in the center of my back... I smiled. It's been so long...

* * *

_**The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Visage of Morrowind**_

_**Episode Three - Like you said, Chorrol is boring**_

**_Theme: _****_http://www_****_(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=jA1EuCu2_Fk_**

**_Audiomachine - Battle of the Kings_**

**_

* * *

  
_**

I awoke that morning with a harsh greet from the sun... The bare, smooth skin of my palm rubbing out the fatigue in my eyes, I let out a hefty yawn. My humble abode that night took the form of a dirt pile beside the local bar, the ruined cloth of my black cloak acting as my pillow. My cursed blood kept my organs on ice...

Althea rented herself a room at the Oak and Crosier to sleep in, unaware of my social status despite my clothing... Oh how I wished I could see the look on her face when her and Talasma met eyes, that would have made my night for weeks. No sooner when I woke did I see her running towards me and my home, the excited smile on her face quickly twisting into a confused slant.

"...Eso?" She asked, sitting on her knees to better get a look at me without my hood. I yawned again.

"What?" I growled, throwing the cloak over my shoulders, knotting the rope in front of my neck and hoisting the hood over my head. So much for that.

"Why are you–"

"Oh shit!" I cursed, quickly pulling the Dunmer to my side and demanding the hush of her lips.

There they were again. That old rag of an Altmer and her annoying kin, once more stumbling out the door of the bar... So early in the morning, and the Goldenrod couldn't keep herself from the ale. I waited a silent moment, holding a talon over Althea's mouth to ensure her silence. I wasn't noticed.

She managed to pull herself free of my grip, now flustered and confused. "What the hell, Eso?!"

"It's that fucking kid... He–" I grit my teeth.

"Mommy, where's Mister Dragon-Fish today? He's not in front of the smelly place..."

"UGH, I'LL DROWN THAT FUCKING KID!" I screamed, talons exposed and shooting to my feet, running as hard and fast as I could towards the child. I didn't move more than a foot, with Althea hanging off of my arms and pulling my back.

"Eso! Stop!" She demanded. "Calm down!"

A second more of running in place and I managed to breath deep, flushing the word out of my mind after many consecutive tries... I sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm alright now."

"...Mister Dragon-Fish?" She had to ask. My eye twitched.

"According to the kid's obvious-scholar of a mother, my kind are comparable to dragons and slaughter fish... According to me, her kind is comparable to a Khajiit's ass."

Althea fought giggles. "It's kind of cute, the name is like a pet name. Come on now, _Mister Dragon-Fish_..."

"Do you feel like dying that bad today, Dunmer? Really?" I warned.

"Alright, alright, Pissy-Fish. Can we get started now? I want to get there as soon as we can, I've hardly been able to sleep!"

I agreed. With that and a quick weapon and utility belt check, we began our walk... At first it was a silent venture, just the way I liked my jobs, but soon the questions came roaring like a Khajiit on might potions... See what I did there?

"Eso... Why were you sleeping on the ground?" Althea asked, pretending to bury her attention into a map as we walked a path.

"Because the Oak and Crosier doesn't accept dirt as a currency. I'm not the most wealthy Argonian in the water."

"You don't have any money at all?" She seemed surprised.

"None."

There was a silence, as if she was thinking of more to ask. "Can you tell me about yourself?"

"What are you wanting to know?" I asked her.

"Where you're from, what you like... Why you ended up in a shit place like Chorrol, anything you're willing to tell me."

"You don't want to know any of that," I assured her.

"Yes, I do! I want to know more about the man protecting me."

I then sighed. "I'm from Black Marsh, back in Morrowind. Like most of every other Argonian you see walking around."

"How did you get to Cyrodiil?"

"_I flew here_, what do you think? I'm an Argonian..."

"Oh," She laughed. "Right..."

"Was that something you were iffy on?"

"N-No! No. I just don't really look at race. To me, you're not an Argonian, you're a nice, helpful man with a lot of things you're hiding. You carry around an imperial marked Akaviri Katana, have a large scar across your chest and show it off through your shirt, and beat an Orc with a kick to the face... You being an Argonian was the last thing I cared about."

Now I was silent. That was the first time in a long while that I actually felt respected... I was raised to believe all of her pointed-eared kind were uptight assholes, it was in their blood.

"I was raised in Morrowind too, near the marshes..." Oh. Okay. "Except I took a boat and left my wings at home. I travel around Cyrodiil now. I guess that was a stupid question..."

Althea seemed sad now. Great. Now I felt like a dick. I felt the impulse to tell her otherwise, but her face soon flooded with excitement after folding the map up into a small enough square to slide into her leather pockets. She ran. "It's just up here, Eso!"

Awkwardly, I chased her over a small enough mound to block our sight, leading to a slanted cliff where our destination laid a few yards from the base. Once we reached the top however, I could see she was heart broken.

Moranda was within our sight, along with a small group of Redguard carrying arms full of burlap, exiting the dungeon one by one and throwing their loot onto a horse-pulled caravan. I crouched to my knees to get a more focused look, a short gust of wind carrying my cape and blowing back Althea's hair, showing me her sad face.

"...Let's just take you home. I'll pay you in full for your company, it was nice..."

I knelt my head as I lifted myself back up to stand straight. I lightly pulled on the hood of my cloak, and stood in the silence for only a minute. Althea turned to leave, and I jumped...

"E-Eso!" She called to me, but I was gone. My boots took the friction in as I slid down the side of the steep hill, wind whipping my cape behind me and throwing my hood to my neck. I was angry, furious, and the spines from my head displayed that with furious curls and spikes. I don't know why it angered me so much, but seeing the look on her face destroyed my sanity. Althea was looking forward to this, and because of them she goes home empty handed. Because of them. Twin trails of torn dirt followed my path, swerving to avoid rocks and debris and ending the decline with a momentum-filled jump, saving me the trouble of falling on my face and damaging the reason this story is awesome. Yes, I just broke the fourth wall.

It didn't take long before the group noticed me, and my movement didn't stop there. I ran at them. I don't remember if Althea chased me down that hill or if she found another way down, but I could hear her in the background once I arrived at the dungeon. There were five of them... Four Redguards apparently led by one Nord, standing in cliche gangster formation, two on each side behind the leader. I stopped before the Nord, throwing my hood back over my head and kneeling my head. I stayed quiet.

"What do you want, Pondscum?" Demanded the Nord, unfolding his arms from his massive chest. At his side, he held a steel warhammer, gripped in the palm of a single hand alone, while his cloned Redguards behind him threatened me with the sight of their maces.

I simply pointed to their caravan, holding bags full of what we came here for. I wasn't going to let them walk away with it.

"And you expect us to give it to you?" One of the Redguards barked, the four coming around to surround me. I didn't intend on running anyway.

"ESO!" Althea screamed. "Are you fucking crazy?!"

The Nord pushed me.

"Leave him alone!" She cried. "He didn't even do anything to you!"

A Redguard turned with his mace in hand to Althea, and the moment he turned, I punched him. Not hard enough to knock him back, but it hurt, and I could feel teeth and bone against my fist.

"Now I did," I laughed.

"You swamp bastard!" The Redguard cried, swinging his mace at my head and calling in the rest of them to attack. I ducked below the mace and followed with a quick one-two hit to the stomach, piercing his weak armor and knocking him out of breath to the ground. This gave me an opening to back up and out of the surrounding circle, and hit them one for one. Each one but the Nord charged at me, the first of three Redguards seeing his mace deflected by my wrist before I knocked him to the ground with a much harder fist to his face. This time, I could feel bones cracking.

The second found his mace slipped from his grip with a rising knee. I easily caught it, and didn't wait to break his shoulder and shatter the bones. I blocked the last Redguard's mace with a side-turn of the one I took, throwing mine up as hard as I could disarmed him of his own, and left him open for my knee buried in his stomach and my elbow crushing his skull. I took a deep breath and stood up straight, looking down at my mess. Both Althea and the Nord glanced at me, paralyzed.

I took a step towards the Nord, and that enough had him on the ground, dropping his hammer at his side.

"...I hope I didn't kill any of them." I worried, walking to the caravan. "I'm being observed by forces unknown... We're taking your shit, by the way."

Althea still couldn't move.

I paced to the back of the caravan and checked out the weight issue, how much effort would it take to carry this stuff... Could we just take the horse and caravan? What all was in here that was worth so mu–

"Eso!" Althea called again.

I quickly turned around and caught the shaft of the warhammer in my grip, the Nord behind me growling in rage. I easily held the weapon back... I whispered to him.

"Cold... touch."

Right before his eyes, the shaft became encased in ice between my fingers, frost seeping from the weapon... Before he could run, I easily broke the frozen, weakened weapon in half, and bashed the head of the hammer as hard as I could into his skull, crushing his face spattering blood all over the ground and the weapon... I left the hammer head in the crater I made in his bones, letting him die with it.

"So much for mercy..." I smiled to Althea.

Later on, after the amazement and excitement of having all of the loot from the dungeon had passed, we stole the caravan and rode it to Chorrol. She dropped me off at the gates, the sun was setting and all was mellow... She threw me a small bag of gold.

"There it is, Eso. All 500 of your payment. You're a big mystery, and one of the most skillful fighters I've seen in a long time..." She complimented from the seat of the caravan, playing nervously with the reigns of the horse. I looked up at her and smiled.

"Thank you, for that... So this is all you came to Chorrol for?" I asked.

She nodded her head. "I travel all over the place Eso, hoping to meet people like you and have my own adventures... You have your reasons for leaving the marshes and I have mine..." She took a deep breath. "Why don't you come with me?"

My heart stopped. "You... want me with you?"

"Yes, I do. Like you said, Chorrol is boring. You're really fun company, Eso... And, after the way you handled those bandits, you've impressed me a lot. I could use your protection... and I'll pay for it and your company if that's what you want."

I just smiled, having to kneel my head farther than normal to keep her from noticing. "You know what, Althea... I could use the fresh start. This will sound stupid but... I think you're exactly what I needed to get over myself. I'd love nothing more than to travel with you."

It was the first time, I believe, that she heard my voice in a serious tone. Any time before, I was either joking or being distant. She grew a big smile on her face, and slid over on the seat of the driver, offering me her hand. I shook my head.

"There's one more thing I have to do in Chorrol, before I can leave it all behind. It should only take a minute."

There it started... My third chance at a real life.

***

A brick came crashing through the window of her home, forcing her to jump out of her chair. Attached to it, a note. A young boy played with toys on the floor, and landed right beside him. He took it to the woman.

_ Dear Mrs. Altmer, _The lady read._ "I feel that I must warn you that your child is in grave danger... We, the guards of Chorrol, have reason to believe that a bounty is on the poor kids head, arrow pulled back and aimed for his head at every waking moment... The assassins lay in wait, quietly listening to every word the child says, listening for one specific term... A signal, if you will, to fire... The code for this attack _must never be verbally spoken, as the assassins could be anywhere...

"O-Oh... Oh my god..." She read on, tears forming in her eyes...

_ That code word is... Dragon-Fish._

* * *

The air grows chill and a shadow approaches...

_ God dammit. I knew this would happen..._

_

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_

A/N: Like the story so far? Pass it around and leave your opinion! The more views and comments I receive, the more inspired I am write more and write more often. Want more of the story? Tell a friend or lemme know what you think.

Currently accepting OC's. Experience from other FFNet series' show that I get plenty of offers to use OC's very quickly once I open up the chance. PM me with a standard character sheet, as if you were making an Oblivion character from scratch (Includes birthsign and seven professions), and we'll discuss.


	4. Chapter 4

_**The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Visage of Morrowind**_

_**Episode Four - The Wrath of Sithis**_

**_Theme: _****_http://www_****_(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=jA1EuCu2_Fk_**

**_Audiomachine - Battle of the Kings_**

He woke me that night. I knew he would wake me that night.

"Awaken," He demanded of me. I pretended to ignore him, and go back to sleep.

"...Awaken," He repeated. He poked me on the shoulder and gently shook me, and still I pretended to sleep.

"Zzz..."

"...Awa-fucking-ken!" He screamed and struck me hard in the ribs with his foot. I instantly coughed for air and growled in pain, holding the wound and shooting up from my curled up blanket in the back of the caravan. I growled up at him.

"Good, you're awake," He said to me, nice and calm. His voice was a solemn whisper with barely a tone, and his presence made my body chill. "My name is Lucien Lechance... Speaker of the Dark Brotherhood. And you? You're a killer."

"..." I tipped the hood of my cloak and laid back down.

"I could kill you right now, Argonian! Do not disrespect me!" Lucien shouted.

"What's with all of the noise...?" Althea yawned, slowly rising from her sheet next to all of her loot. Her hair a mess and eyes shrouded by her fists, she seemed confused. When she finally looked up at me, she saw nothing. Nothing but me, trying to get back to sleep.

"...Wh-Where did he...?" She asked.

I let out a heavy, tired sigh, and bent my right leg. Then, I pushed hard, and struck Lucien in the leg, "hiding" against the shadow of the wall in his black robes. The kick numbed his ankle, and sent him toppling over himself and out of the still caravan. He growled in pain, and I curled back up in my sheet of a blanket.

Embarrassed, Lucien forced himself back up to his feet, leaning in against the edge of the caravan. Althea reached for a holstered shortsword, but I motioned her still.

"Who the hell do you think you are?!" Lucien barked.

Lifting my legs up, I used them to pivot my waist and sit right up, leaning against one bent knee and one folded leg. I pulled my hood back to expose my glowing eyes and tensing spines. I then lifted the tear in my shirt to expose my scar. He recognized me immediately.

"Eso. Of course," He laughed, as if forgetting that I just kicked his ass. He crawled back on to the caravan and sat in front of me, ignoring Althea's existence. "I haven't seen you since the war..."

"Now we're even, jackass... Didn't have to wake me up like that!" I yelled back at him, finally.

"You should have responded the first time!"

"Eso..?" Althea asked. I tilted my head towards her.

"Settling down with a Dunmer, Eso? Have you sunk so low on the food chain?"

I growled at him. "I don't like dark meat."

I heard him snicker.

"Althea," I called. "This is Lucien... The Night Mother's bitch, 'Speaker' of the Dark Brotherhood..."

"Shh!" He hushed me. "You stupid fish, you're not supposed to expose me!"

"Like you didn't do that yourself, coming in here and making a bunch of noise! Relax, you're safe with her."

She blinked at us.

"Fine, fine. A pleasure, Dunmer," Lucien offered his cold hand, to which she hesitantly shook. "I am Lucien Lachance

"Althea Dravasa... You two know eachother?"

I nodded.

"Eso used to be a welcomed member of our family... A Shadowscale, and one of the best."

Althea looked at me, and I knew what she was going to ask. "Shadowscale is what they call an Argonian under the 'Shadow' birthsign... The Argonian is taken in at birth and trained to fight..."

"You were one of them...?" She asked, her voice quivering.

I glared at Lucien.

"Not for long, mind you... Shadowscales are trained and raised at birth but once they hit adolescence they are free to do what they want... Eso here had the most progress out of any of the Shadowscales, but only stayed with the family for a week. Completed one contract, and abandoned us for the military..."

"You Imperials don't know when to shut up..." I growled.

I could see it in Althea's eyes. A sudden dose of distrust and confusion, with hundreds of questions in her mind with this new information. I would have preferred to leave that life behind me... I was ready to kill Lucien.

"This woman really doesn't know anything about you, Eso. What happened to you to make you so distant?" Lucien asked.

"You were there," I flashed another glare at him, and showed him my scar. I tore my shirt apart, straight down the middle, just to show it to him. "THIS is what happened to me! Struck down before my entire race!" I felt tears. "I couldn't save them, I couldn't save my fucking land, Lucien! And look at it now, look at the marshes because of my failure! It's a slave country, my race is treated as the fucking doormat to the Imperials because I couldn't win! Every time I see an Argonian slave, my scar burns, and every time I see an Imperial, I want to kill. I hate myself, Lucien!"

He was quiet. He and Althea.

I calmed down to a whisper, fighting back the tears and painful memories. "You were there, Lucien... You were the one who escorted my bleeding, dying form to aid. I killed fifty men in that battle... That's not my kind of life anymore."

Lucien exhaled as he rose to his feet, pacing to the exit of the caravan. "War has scarred you in many ways, Eso. No matter what you say and do in your life, you will always have a home in the arms of the Night Mother. You are close to Cheydinhal, visit the Home while there... Ocheeva and Teinaava miss you."

He vanished. I paid little mind to it, he did that all of the time, and Althea was busy staring at me. I followed in Lucien's example and stood up, throwing the hood back over my head and helplessly checking my essentials... Cloak, daggers, katana. "I'll just be going."

"Wait, Eso... Please."

I looked at her. "You hate me, right?"

"How could I... You left the Dark Brotherhood of all things... People sick enough to join are people dumb enough to stay. I just... never knew how much pain you were in... You cried."

"..."

"I don't care, Eso, what you've done several years ago... I never pictured you as the type to cry, I could hug you right now. The last thing I want you to do is leave."

"..."

"Aw, how cute," Lucien said.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU STILL DOING HERE?!" I screamed at him, my heart racing from the sudden jump.

He laughed through his chameleon disguise and jumped from the caravan onto the dirt.

"You'd better get the hell out of here, not to is to invoke the wrath of my foot kicking your ass!"

This time, I could hear his foot steps and see the cloud of dust that danced behind him. He was gone for sure this time. I took a deep breath and did the same, hopping from the caravan. "I'll drive for now, put something the Dark Brotherhood actually did for me to good use..."

Althea just silently watched me, after fighting off her laughter of course, not sure exactly how she should be acting right now... Should she hate me for not bringing my life up before? Should she be more sympathetic of me because of my past...? No. My past doesn't make me who I am, nor does the color blood stained to my blade. Once she saw the landscape move farther and farther away, she fought to fade back asleep.

* * *

Kind of disappointed lol. I'm having fun writing this, which I guess is the only important thing, but still only one review in four chapters and 32 hits? Still, thank you to Deadpool for being my first and only review, hope that changes soon .. And thank you to everyone reading.


	5. Chapter 5

_**The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Visage of Morrowind**_

_**Episode Five - Sanguine, my Bosmer**_

_**Theme: **__**http://www**__**(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=jA1EuCu2_Fk**_

_**Audiomachine - Battle of the Kings**_

Cheydinhal, exactly as I remembered it to be. Bland and solemn. Nothing was going on, nothing was going to be going on. The guards did their job, the people wandered around aimlessly, pretending to be important, and the poor merchants sold the items you could get anywhere else. If not for the Home, I don't think we would have wasted our time coming here...

The more I looked around at Cheydinhal, the more it reminded me of Chorrol. I probably could have found a nice pile of dirt by the bar and people watch, just as I used to.

"Althea," I called. She turned her head to me, making sure all of our supplies were secure.

"Yeah?" She called back after jumping from the back of the caravan.

"I'm going to the Dark Brotherhood Home alone, I don't want to involve you where you don't belong. Cheydinhal is pretty Dunmer friendly, so consider it a day to yourself. As soon as I'm done with business, we need to get back on the road to the Imperial Market."

She nodded her head with a smile, flashing a ring of lockpicks at me. "Right."

I shook my head. "I won't be able to help you if you get into shit, so watch it."

"I know, I know. I can take care of myself, I wasn't helpless before you came around, you know," She said, matter-of-factly.

"We'll see about that. Meet back here at six."

We both nodded, and ran off our separate ways.

I tried to remember where the Home was, as if I could forget. Eastern wall, the only house boarded up and broken. I closed my eyes and deeply inhaled. Once I welcomed the sight of the door way once more, I had vanished just as Lachance did. Easily, and one-hundred percent unseen, I slipped through the doorway and down the stairs... Camouflage unneeded now. There, an unwelcoming, red light greeted me and chilled my cold blood...

"What is the color of night?" The daemonic voice asked of me.

"Sanguine, my Brother," I answered with the password, drilled into my mind by Lucien as a child. The door easily opened after that, and I slipped inside...

Three people clad in the hoods and armor of the brotherhood looked up to stare at me. They didn't say a word to me, and I only recognized two; the only two that mattered. Ocheeva and Teinaava, fellow Argonian Shadowscales of the marshes, looked exactly as I remembered them to as a child... Ocheeva's scales impressed me with their green tone all around, while Teinaava bore orange ones with green across his cheeks. Their tails were shorter than mine, always have been, and eyes never quite as red. With the way my clothes had been torn, it looked like I had just walked away from a bad fight.

Awkwardly, I walked forward, expecting someone to say something eventually. Instead, the third being, a mysterious looking man with parted black hair and skin as white as purgatory, glared at me.

Ocheeva finally spoke. "What are you doing here..?"

"Good morning to you too, asshole," I mumbled.

"Oh my god, it _is_ Eso," Teinaava joked.

Ocheeva ran to hug me, and hug me tightly, while Teinaava came to hit my shoulder. I just smiled at the both of them.

"Didn't think we'd ever see your ugly scales around here anymore..." Ocheeve sniffled.

"Are you crying? Stop it!" I said.

She was happy, and I tried to hide that I was too. I haven't seen these two in nine years... Ocheeva pulled back to get a better look at me, only to push me backwards. Hard.

"What the fuck did you do to yourself, Eso?! What is this?!" She demanded, staring at my scar.

"Damn... What happened?" Teinaava asked.

"I'd rather not talk about it, and you don't want to hear it either," I assured them. "I'm okay though, I can promise you that."

"We both thought you died when the Imperials attacked Black Marsh... Ocheeva and I were here in the Sanctuary but word got out very quick what happened... We hated ourselves for the longest time allowing you to leave... But look at you, you're still here," I could hear Teinaava tearing up too.

"Come on now, you two... You're going to make me start crying," I told them off, taking another step back.

"A friend of both of yours?" The man in the back asked. Teinaava nodded.

"Vincente, this is Eso. We're all Shadowscale kin... Eso left the Brotherhood nine years ago to fight for Argonia," He explained.

"Noble, but stupid... The family gives us protection, Argonian, why did you decide to leave?" Vincente asked.

I glared at him a bit. "I couldn't let our race fall into the hands of the Imperial. Black Marsh, and all of the Argonian race that weren't Shadowscale needed protection too."

"And look how well that turned out."

I felt myself ready to lunge at him and slit his throat. Honestly, I would have, right there, if not for the interruption.

"No, you idiot, you're still doing it wrong!"

I turned my head towards the sound, following it without permission through a door on my right. There, the first thing I saw was a giant of an Orc clad in heavy, gold and red armor, a pair of battle-axes crossed behind his back. Next to him stood a female Bosmer, wearing the usual Dark Brotherhood black leather, bow in hand removing multiple arrows from her quiver. She was odd, to me, one of the most human-looking elves I'd ever seen. Her ears stuck out from her short, straight, black hair, but only enough that you could tell she was an elf. Otherwise, she had the body, skin, and the face of the ideal female human, if not better looking than any Breton, Imperial, or Nord I'd ever come across...

The Bosmer took four arrows between her fingers at once, armed her bow equally spaced along the string. She faced four targets in a line, and in less time than I could count, shot her central-most arrow at the outer right target, slid an arrow from one finger to the other and did the same to the outer left. The remaining two arrows pierced the two targets in front of her simultaneously.

I watched, impressed to say the least, as were my two scaled brethren... The Orc, however, deserved a certain foot in a certain face...

"Again, all wrong. You'd think with how massive your ears, you'd be able to listen more," He complained.

"What did she do wrong?" I demanded to know.

"She won't hit all four targets at once," He snarled. "And who the hell are you to ask?"

I ignored him, diverting my attention to the Bosmer. "You, archer."

She turned her head at me, silent.

"Step back as far as you can. Back against the wall with your bow drawn," I asked of her.

"Don't listen to this pondscum, Dread," ordered the Orc. I expected her to listen to him, but she happily ignored him and did as I asked.

"If you're fighting more than one person at a time, they will never be that far apart exactly. They will either be close quarters, or too far apart to strike with anything but one arrow at a time," I easily explained.

"What do you know about combat, Argonian?"

"More than you know about being ugly. So, a lot," I snapped at him. I waited for the Bosmer to get in position before I continued. "The best way to go about an intense, adrenaline packed fight full of enemies is a running start. Charging at them as they charge you invigorates you, excites you... Makes it easy to hit them, because you can adapt your movement to theirs, as opposed to you standing still. I want you to run at the targets like they are your handsome trainer over here, and get them all at once."

Silently and without a word of question, she took a deep breath, and charged at the targets. The bow remained at her side, armed and pulled back, until the exact moment she wished to release. Then she carefully and quickly aimed, and within a seconds worth of time all four targets were struck... Ocheeva and Teinaava applauded, and I just smiled at the smile the Bosmer flashed me.

"Why would an archer charge into any sort of battle, let alone one with multiple targets? It's suicide," The Orc complained again, just trying to one-up me.

"It's real combat. One arrow for one target sniping only works until the rest of the enemy spots you. Then what? Bust out a sword or kill them all at once," I defended my point.

"Neither you nor the girl will ever understand _real_ combat, don't try to tell me how to fight," He growled.

I sighed. "Hey, Ocheeva? Want to see an Orc's only weakness?"

She blinked. "Um... Sure, Eso..."

I smiled now. "Alright... It's really simple," I expected the Orc to attack me there, but he didn't. Instead, he was just as curious as everyone else was. What was I going to do? Only an attack worthy of naming it something that takes longer to say than it does to execute... I call it...

"Kick to the face!" I swung my body around, pivoting off of my left foot to strike high with a rotation of my right one, striking hard to the side of the Orc's head with a roundhouse. I held that position for several seconds.

Ocheeva and Teinaava snickered, and the Bosmer took a step out of the way.

"...Crap."

Angered by the light tap on the face, the Orc tightly grasped my ankle in its massive palms, easily lifting me up from the ground. As if I was weightless, he swung me hard across the room, forcing out the joints in my leg and the feeling in my back. I slammed against the wall and crashed onto the ground, making a mess out of the menagerie of supplies I landed on. By the time I had forced myself up, the Orc charged at me with curled fists.

"Eso, you idiot!" Ocheeva called.

I slid to the side to dodge fist after fist, gliding across the wooden floor just to avoid the behemoth. I could see the Bosmer preparing an arrow, and I was almost touched that the silent elf wanted to help me... I quickly motioned her away.

"No," I said. "I'm having too much fun," I dodged again. "With this guy."

Ocheeva and Teinaava shook their heads at the same time.

"Grr... Don't play with me!" The Orc screamed, slamming his fists down from above me, a step back enough to avoid it completely. While I had the opening, my hands grabbed the side of the giants head, holding him still as two consecutive strikes from my knees struck his face. Once they ended and he began to rise, a completed with a single fist directly in the center.

Dazed and done-for, the Orc fell on his back, too much head-trauma for the "real warrior". I panted.

"Same old Eso... Getting yourself into shit you can't win and doing it anyway... Teinaava, go get it please," Ocheeva asked.

"Right," He said, fading off into another room. I examined the Orc; he was perfectly okay, just knocked out, maybe a broken nose. One of these days, I thought, I'm going to need to use a weapon.

"Alright," Teinaava came back. "Here, Eso..."

He held out to me folded up clothing, wrapped in black cloth... "What is this...?"

"When Lucien said you were coming back to visit, Teinaava and I made it for you... Go try it on."

I didn't know what to say. Silent, I snuck off out of sight to try on the clothes... When I emerged, my folded up rags were nothing more than garbage. They were comfortable, light, with a very nice fit... A mixture of black and a dark violet, the top was of leather material, covering my arms to the wrist, with sharp shoulder-protection similar to that of a cuirass. Three chains horizontally stretched across the armor. On top of that, a leather strap crossed my chest, opposite face of my scar, containing several small knives stabbed through the leather. The holster to my katana fit much more comfortably on my back with its new support.

The pouch of my belt was replaced by a pouch on the strap, located on my breast. The black pants were equally as light, equally as comfortable, with a loose fit for easy kicks and flexible moving... Boots in better condition than my older ones, a stronger, black belt to holster my knives on my side, with adjustable openings for other add-ons... My favorite addition, a new cloak, just as long as my older one never extending passed my waist, its edges smoothed out with no tears or ripples... It folded back behind my shoulders, acting as a cape, tied across my chest with golden rope, and a hood that covered just enough... It wasn't Dark Brotherhood armor, much different than theirs...

I couldn't believe it myself, and I fought the tied tongue of mine in order to thank them. I couldn't find the words, the tone, nor the manner in which to properly say it...

"We can see it in your eyes, Eso, no need to say a word..." Ocheeva smiled.

"Let it protect you from the shit you get yourself into..." Teinaava smiled.

"...Thank you," I smiled. I took a deep breath to regain my composure. "And you, Ms. Bosmer! Don't take shit from anyone like that Orc, you were an impressive shot. It's a shame to see talent like that wasted on the Brotherhood..."

She just stared at me.

"It was nice... Nice to see you two again, and have a little fun while I was at it. I almost didn't come, but I don't regret it..." I slowly paced for the door.

"Come by any time, Eso... We'll be listening in the dark for you," Teinaava promised.

"May we walk always in the shadow of Sithis..." They both said.

I simply nodded, doing an essentials check. Cloak, daggers, katana. Next stop, Imperial Market.

The very second I exited the door, I made out the words "Let's go!" as Althea ran as a blur by me as fast as she could, arms full of burlap bags with guards chasing close behind her.

I didn't know whether to laugh or jump in, but the moment Althea found herself backed against the city walls, the moment became serious.

"Your stolen goods are now forfeit!" One of four guards said, reaching to grab her.

I couldn't get to her fast enough; it all happened so fast... And less than a second after that, another blur zoomed passed me from behind. This time, it was in my favor. All four guards fell to the ground, pierced in the back by well-aimed arrows. Right in front of me stood the Bosmer, dressed in completely new clothes. She replaced her Brotherhood wardrobe with an appealing, white, v-cut shirt with puffed up, black cloth at the shoulders and a black, thigh-length skirt. Her shoulder-length hair had finally settled down.

Althea trembled, not with fear, but with a "No way, you just saved my ass," feeling. Ignoring her completely, the Bosmer paced back towards me and offered me her hand, once more staring at me with sapphire eyes. "Thank you," She finally spoke, her voice a fitting, soft tone for her quiet demeanor.

It took me a moment to realize what she was doing, but I gladly shook her hand... She felt fragile. "Eso," I introduced. She slipped her arm through her large bow, about as tall as she was from her waist to the top of her head, resting it on her shoulder. I didn't want to call her nervous... Maybe just shy.

"Indred Pierce... 'Dread'... and I don't want to waste my talent on the Brotherhood..."


	6. Chapter 6

Personal Note: The language may feel out of place because of the old-timey feel Oblivion and the Elder Scrolls has to it, but I assure that it is not. Elder Scrolls takes place in an Alternate Universe setting, not in the past and not in the future, a completely different world. Curse words exist in this world.

_**The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Visage of Morrowind**_

_**Episode Six - The Moon Beast**_

_**Theme: **__**http://www**__**(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=jA1EuCu2_Fk**_

_**Audiomachine - Battle of the Kings**_

We talked, Althea and I, about Indred. She was a young Bosmer no older than 17, easily much younger than either of us. I assured Althea of her talent, and I saw too much potential in her to waist in the name of the brotherhood. She wanted to be called "Dread", a name dubbed to her by the family, and desired most to travel with Althea and I. Dread was more than willing to leave it all behind for us, when she herself knew so little...

I took hold of the reins for the horses, while Althea and Dread climbed on in the back. Dread was too trusting, I thought, for how shy she was. She's hardly said a word... She seems to have taken a liking to Althea though... I didn't know how the hell I felt about it, but it wasn't my call to make. The horses ran and the caravan shook with the bumps in the road as we aimed for the largest place in Cyrodiil; The Imperial City.

"I can't wait to get there, Eso... The Imperial City market is where we are going to get the most gold for all of this Ayleid treasure... Not to mention it's a beautiful place, so massive and lively... Have you ever been there, Dread?" Althea asked.

She shook her head.

"God... You'll love it," Althea smiled. Dread smiled back. "You too, Eso."

"I'm sure," I laughed. "A city full of Imperials, Orcs, and Elves. Totally beast-race friendly."

"Aww, don't say that! I've been there before, the people there are nice and accepting."

"Yeah well, we'll see. Dread," I called back. "Where are your parents?"

She shrugged her shoulders.

"She doesn't know," Althea answered.

"You don't know? Orphan?" I asked.

She nodded her head.

"She says yes," Althea answered again.

"...Is that why you joined the Brotherhood?"

She nodded her head.

"She says yes."

"...Why don't you talk?"

She shrugged her shoulders.

"She–"

"I know what she said," I growled. "Usually it takes a couple of hours to explain a backstory, I guess I'm not used to the straight-to-the-point approach."

Althea giggled, as Dread just stared.

"Are you nervous around us or something?"

She shook her head.

"...Are you nervous around Eso?" Althea asked.

"Yes," Dread said.

"So you'll talk to her?!" I growled again.

Dread nodded.

"..." I gave up.

Althea fought the laughter. "Why did you want to come with us, Dread? The Brotherhood gives you better experience than what we can..."

She inhaled. "Ocheeva and Teinaava... I joined the Brotherhood just a year ago, and all they do together since I joined is reminisce in their childhood... They spoke of a powerful Argonian man, and how he would always out do them in training... How he was one of the most respectable man of their race, and an unbeatable soldier... And only recently, when Lucien spoke of him... Remember happier times is all they did. I wanted to meet the unbeatable man... and after seeing what he did to Gogron, I wanted to learn from him... I want to become just as powerful, just as confident..."

"Aw..."

I was quiet for a while, not sure how to go about responding... I had the horses stop.

"What's the problem, Eso?" Althea asked.

"Dread," I called again. "There's enough time for us to turn back and drop you off back at home. I am not an unbeatable soldier as they claimed I was... I was beaten, once, by an Imperial... In the war for Black Marsh, I was struck down with a single strike by this man, and scarred by the very katana I carry on my back... I wear it, not to arm myself, but to remind me of that man, and hopefully lead me to that man again... There's power in this sword I don't even understand, plus power it's donned from being with me. If that is where your respect in me lies, you can forget it."

She shook her head, several times. "No. I was told this story. You were defeated, once, after killing dozens of men in a single fight just before! Once!"

"..."

Althea stared.

"The stories they told and the fight I saw... Gogron was one of the better fighters in the sanctuary, and threw you into a wall and you still got up... You still beat him. I can't respect you more for too many reasons, that outweigh one unfair defeat..."

"...You're sure then?"

She nodded her head. The horses continued on...

"You're a warrior at heart, Dread. This is going to be fun as hell," I smiled.

The sun had fallen fast on us, and the relaxing repetition of bumps on the road was enough to put Dread to sleep on Althea's lap, who had fallen asleep herself against our merchandise. I tried to ease the ride a bit so they could sleep, a hefty yawn slipping out every now and then. I also tried to fight smiles...

It was a beautiful evening, complimented by the clear, cloudless sky and welcoming view of the moon and stars. I felt my eyelids become heavy, something that didn't happen often... That's when my heart stopped.

From behind our caravan, even at this hour of dark night, I could see another... Horse driven, just like ours, with two people riding on the seat of the driver... An Altmer woman, and her young child.

Oh. My. Fucking. God. I could feel a seizure of twitches erupting from my eye.

I turned my head, only slightly, to stare at them as they drove by. I had to be dreaming. There's no way.

The kid turned his head as well, staring back at me. No doubt in my mind.

"M-Mommy..." The kid called her. "It's Mister Dra–"

"Fuck. You." I interrupted.

"...Wh-What?"

A knife pierced through the reins of the horses, severing their connection with the caravan. The front of the caravan than fell to the dirt, throwing its driver to the ground with it, as the two horses that pulled it along ran off in a rampage. By the time the mother realized what happened, we were gone.

Yeah, I was wondering when that was going to happen again. Crazy dreams...

...I woke up to the sudden jerk of the caravan stopping, almost throwing me from my seat. The stop also woke the girls, noted by their pained groans in the back. When I finally looked up, three figures stood before our horse, one of them gripping down on its head. Althea and Dread peeked through an open hole.

The three were beast race, and instantly recognizable as Khajiit...The lead of the three, the one that stopped my horse in its tracks, stood as the tallest and more defined. None of them wore shirts, but the two kittens in the back barely had the body to show off... The one that stood in front, he was the one that most concerned me, and brought the thought into my head that maybe for a second, someone could intimidate me. His shoulders were broad, and while his chest wasn't massive, his build was impressive, managing a six-pack without dedicating any extra width to his form.

I stood up on the seat, letting the cold, night breeze carry my cape with it. His eyes shone an emerald glow, with an intense stare of anger towards me. What impressed me most about this kitten was the flowing mane, thick and powerful with a tail behind it adding the same dramatic effect as my cape, something I've never seen before on any race of Khajiit. The two of us locked eyes and exchanged gazes, trying to outdo the other for drama. He finally let go of the horse, mercifully.

"State your business, pussycat," I growled.

"I ask you to do the same, swamp-trash," He growled back. "What's in the caravan?"

"Well, I have two kidnapped elves back there and tons of shit that probably doesn't belong to me. What's it to you?" I smiled.

He didn't seem in the laughing mood. "I don't have the time for games... I am here on Imperial City business, there's a killer hanging around the city grounds, witnesses claim all they see are red eyes in darkness... Sound familiar to you?"

I couldn't help but feel a bit of biased claims going on here. So he finds a red-eyed, fully armed Argonian dressed in all black armor with knives decorating his torso and instantly I'm a killer? Blasphemy.

"I'm afraid not, kitten, we fucking done here?" I asked.

"You can't fucking talk to him like that!" One of the background cats bellowed.

"Who the hell do you think you are?!" The other complained. A soft snarl from their big man shut them up.

"I'm afraid not, lizard," He imitated me. "Reports also claim that the victims are left with vicious bite marks about their bodies... You seem to have the teeth for it."

He took a step closer, one more ounce of detail exposed by my range of sight. He wore black pants similar to mine, the thief, with two short swords at his hip, one to each side crossed behind his legs. His hands rested firmly on them, as if waiting for me to jump at him. I was almost tempted to, just to piss him off.

"Now, you listen here, ass cleaner... Tragic that some novice is running around eating people, I'm crying on the inside, but this isn't my fucking problem. Who are you to go around hunting, they run out of babies in Elsweyr? Or maybe you prefer my kind, some tough dragon jerky?"

"Eso, shut the fuck up! They're probably on official business!" Althea claimed.

Her voice raised the brow of the Khajiit, realizing that I wasn't kidding about the elves. As soon as they were noticed, Dread and Althea came running from the back. Dread simply hid behind Althea, who was more than willing to talk our way out of this.

"Wait! Please, this doesn't have to turn violent. We understand you're just doing your job, mister... Both of us can assure you that Eso here means no harm... " Althea tried explaining.

The cats were silent for a moment.

"You were so quick to thinking that I'm some kind of criminal, fur tongue. And for what, my race?" I growled. "If you have a problem with me, step up and handle it yourself!"

"Eso!" Althea sighed.

"I can see that you're a man full of pride..." The Khajiit sighed. "You feel the need to show off your masculinity in front of the elves? Pathetic."

"It's a shame to consider your furry hides a beast race, where do you get off thinking you're so much better than me?!" I yelled.

He sighed again, turning his head towards Althea and Dread. His eyes never gave up their glow. "My name is Rial LorKhaj, soldier of Elsweyr and born in the shadow of the eclipse... And you, scaled fish..." He shifted his gaze. "There's a reason your people are stuck in the marshes, backs acting as the stepping stool for the Imperials, and my people thrive and flourish... Do not tie my people in with yours using 'beast race', you don't deserve to be in the same class as me."

I jumped from the seat and onto the dirt, standing beside Althea and Dread with my head knelt low.

Rial turned to leave, his silent posse of kittens following behind. "Never knew Argonians liked dark meat..."

"Hey, dick face," I called, out of racial slurs for the time being. A rock struck the furred beast in the back of the head, disintegrating upon the hit. It didn't hurt, I'm sure, but it got his attention. The dark, blinding night, now appeared blue in my eyes, every ounce of the dark once more within my range of sight. When he turned around to stare, I could see his surprise with an emerald glare of my own, illuminating the darkness of my hood and the serious look on my face. "That's my joke."

* * *

Pronunciation Guide:

Eso - Ess Oh

Althea - Al thay uh

Dread - Dred

Rial - Rhi Elle


	7. Chapter 7

_**The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Visage of Morrowind**_

_**Episode Seven - The Moon Beast Part Two: I'll fucking show you the power of my race!**_

_**Theme: **__**http://www**__**(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=jA1EuCu2_Fk**_

_**Audiomachine - Battle of the Kings**_

"Mm..." Rial looked back at me. "You must have brushed the dust off of that spell, Argonian... I can see it in your eyes, you're struggling to hold it."

I grit my teeth at him. The Night-Eye ability came natural with the fur-beasts, making them adept fighters, even in the dark... Other races shouldn't be able to do it, but I impressed the furry bastard with the emerald eyes. It didn't last long, however... In order for me to fight in a condition like this, I'd have to continue to cast and recast, distracting me from the heat of the battle. I estimated thirty seconds per cast until the dark claimed my sight, and time was already running out for me.

The two kittens in back turned about-face while Rial remained still, peering over his shoulder as if curious. Althea and Dread took a step closer to me.

"Dread," Althea whispered, her fingers lingering around her hip, within reach of her short sword. She peered at the shorter girl and quickly noticed that her weapon had vanished... The bow she cradled on her shoulder, gone. Before Althea could ask, the Khajiit twins had also disappeared... Even with a bright darkness, they were no where to be found. Dread's hands were at her chest, curled into fists. My arms remained stationary; I could feel my heart racing faster and faster.

"Listen, you two," I asked of them. "You're at a disadvantage... More so than I am. At least I can see them, the moment you two get involved is the moment we lose this fight. Please, let me deal with them... I'm honored you want to help, and I fully trust in your abilities... But this is a matter of pride."

The Bosmer understood right away what I spoke about, but it took a gentle restraint from her to convince Althea.

"If you two got hurt over something as trivial as this... I wouldn't be able to sleep at night," I laughed a bit. "As for you two, fur-fucks! You're not invisible, you're just fast, I get it. My problem's not with you unless you want to get in my way."

I could hear them snickering.

"And you, Rial, was it?!" I yelled for his attention. "You don't want to get in on this? You're the one that started."

He remained quiet.

"I'll get to you in a minute then. For now," I rested a palm over my shoulder, slowly rotating it to excite the muscles. I could feel Night-Eye fading, and I knew it was exactly what the cats were waiting for. "I'm more than willing to get my ass handed to me, if it means I didn't take your shit about Argonia lying down."

There it went. Sudden darkness. I could see the faint blur of orange swipe by before the bone-crushing impact was made, forcing the air out of my lungs with a powerful fist buried in the skin. I couldn't tell who was doing what but the second I hunched over, a second fist knocked me back, crushing against my cheek bones and slamming me into the dirt.

Recast.

Once more my vision flooded in blue, and eyes shifted to emerald color. Without a thought to debate on I swung my legs around to drag my hips along the ground, forcing myself up to my feet right away with an acrobatic leap. It took less than a second to see my position, one Khajiit to my front, another to my side, my opposite side facing the caravan and my back exposed. They laughed at me, pulling single daggers from their hips once they saw me stand.

"Hope you enjoyed that sucker punch you two shared... Because now, you're dead."

They laughed again. "You're in no position to make such claims, pond-dweller!"

Rial sighed again, almost in boredom. "This isn't our duty, our only mission was to find and execute the murderer. You're going to kill yourselves doing this."

"Oh please, Rial!" One of them scowled. "For all we know, this swimming lizard is the killer! You heard his claims just now!"

"Shut the hell up. No one cares about your useless, nameless dialogue!" I complained.

"It is against Imperial Order to kill if not provoked or threatened. He hasn't pulled a weapon yet and you foolishly attack him, a two on one, easily one sided battle... The Argonian has a loud mouth, and foolish tactics, but I doubt he's stu–"

I crushed the adjacent Khajiit's face, as hard as my arm would swing, against the bare knuckles of my fist, a twist of my waist and my heel did the same to the frontal kitten against the caravan walls. Both fell to the dust, twitching as a desperate attempt to move. My foot remained high from the kick, until a rapid descent brought the heel back down to crush the Khajiit, this time the sharp swing aimed for his groin. Before ear-shattering screams were heard, I did the same to the other cat with a fist, pounding the ground through his waist. Both of them howled and screamed and cried, brushed over by an appropriate, orgasmic silence once I stood back up.

"I'm sorry, were you talking?" I asked Rial. His face was desolate for a reaction.

Althea and Dread, however, both looked at my handy work and cringed, their eyes twitching and faces mortified. I wanted to laugh, but even I had a hard time replaying in my head what I did to these two; even I wanted to cringe.

"Can't say they weren't warned... And yet, you don't seem too miserable without them, Rial."

The last remaining cat simply smiled, a cool breeze stirring my cold blood. "They were naive, disposable... I should thank you for discontinuing the hope of their bloodline producing kin."

"Furry's got jokes, does he?" I smiled back, feeling Night-Eye escaping me once again. "It's just us now."

"Why are you so eager to die, Argonian?" He asked me. "Those two ladies seem to really care about your well being. I'd hate to ruin it for them."

"Words are something you have to think of before you say. It's impossible to say a word without first thinking of it and what it means, even if those thoughts take place in the same millisecond of time... You talk down to Argonian as if they deserved their fate, as if they got what they had coming to them. Back in Morrowind, I'd be in chains this very second. Argonian men fought in wars to withhold the independence and the freedom of the marshes, to make sure we would never become the Imperial's bitch. They fought, and they fell under that might. I'd much rather die in a fight for the people of Argonia than bite my tongue and listen to your slander... I'd rather fight than insult, I'd rather fight than negotiate. Once you've spoken your peace, it's out there and your opinion is known, and I cannot let you walk unscathed... That a fucking good enough reason for you?"

It was gone. My sight, along with the massive-maned lion, gone. Not this shit again...

Recast.

I desperately looked around, right then left, for the fearsome fighter. I tried listening for the lighter-than-air steps, or the mid battle breaths... I quickly turned, my back forced against the caravan as a desperate stalemate forced between our grips. The Khajiit was up close now, fingers interlocked with mine, growling in unison with my anger, pushing in unison with my strength, blood boiling in unison with my words. Our talons fought for control of the other's, his much more sharp and deadly than mine. We growled.

As effortless as he could manage, he threw my body out from the stalemate and into the air, towards Althea and Dread who were tempted to stay and catch me. Rial was too fast, already charging at my descending body before I could hit the ground. The girls ran from the fight and retreated into the caravan, only able to watch as the Khajiit forced his fist against my rib-cage, extending my hang time and forcing me to the ground harder. Shit.

The struggle to use Night-Eye after so long without the use of my power... It physically drained me of strength and will. It felt as if the longer I was forced to sustain the emerald gaze, the harder it was to concentrate on the actual fight, where the Khajiit wear the spell as if it were a pair of spectacles. Funny thing about nostalgia, things were never as good as you remembered them to be.

I was fighting blind. The kittens were no problem at all, a couple of muscle headed Khajiit in their twenties with no training what so ever... Not crushing them sooner was an embarrassment. The darkness was thick and I was once more overcome with the inability to see. Strike after heavy strike impacted my body, every attempt I made in standing was brought down with a kick or a punch. We connected fists, we deflected punches and kicks, we dodged strikes and exchanged curses, almost too quickly to watch... He wasn't even trying.

This wasn't me. Finally, the cold truth hit me. I knew it from the beginning, it was something I wanted more than anything, but now that I had it... Now that I had it, who was I anymore? I wasn't that Eso that fought for Argonia... I wasn't the homeless street-crawler... I wasn't the Shadowscale... This wasn't me...

Finally, it stopped. After so many harsh beatings and failed attempts at a Night-Eye casting, it stopped.

"Why won't you pull your weapon, Argonian... Why aren't you fighting back?! This is what you wanted!" He screamed from over me. I could taste blood on my tongue, seeping from impact wounds on my head and internal bruisings... I tried again to stand up, forced back easily by a kick to the jaw. "Get the fuck up! Show me this Argonian pride you keep screaming about! Where is the power of your proud race?!"

Althea and Dread watched, more mortified than before... They wanted to jump in, but what could they do...?

Rial ceased his assault and turned his back on my broken body. He was finished with me... But I wasn't fucking done...

I mustered the strength to pull my hood down.

Not for a fucking long shot...

"You're... wanting to see it... that bad... are you?..!" I coughed up blood.

"Stay down before I have to kill you for real," Warned Rial.

"Gee... What a good... idea..." I laughed. "Totally... not what I'm going to do..."

I could feel it, asking to be released... I could hear its passionate cries for my grip, its lust to be out in the battle field... I stood to my knees. On and on, the voice beckoned me to rise, begged me to use its power. An arm slowly reached behind my head, a tilt of my neck exposing a handle...

"So you have a secret weapon... You still picked the wrong time to fight back, Argonian..." Rial turned back around to face me. I had risen to my feet.

Release us.

Release us.

Release us.

"You think you... know something... about my people... You want to see it...? I'll show you... I'LL FUCKING SHOW YOU THE POWER OF MY RACE!" I screamed into the night and pulled as hard as I could on the handle. The blade fought back against my hand, the souls of hundreds whispering and begging to be released. They kissed my ears with their hymns, the wind around my body a furious gust... Every centimeter of exposed metal brought with it a powerful flash of light erupting from the scabbard. The wind increased, and increased, and increased, with every inch of metal exposed once more to the air of war. The soldiers who died by the Imperial Legion's hand, they now guided mine... The muscles in my hand tensed and shook in a desperate attempt to hold on to the angered blade, adrenaline and power flowing into my veins and pouring from my being... The last bit of steel formed the tip of the blade, and ended the powerful spectacle upon the final release. The wind was calm, the light silenced, the voices dead...

I've never had to use the blade in battle before... I've tested its enchanted might, imbued with the souls of countless fallen men by Imperial hands, the souls of creatures and beasts that stood in my path, their souls filled this gem embedded in the pommel... Their souls gave it power... I was ready to add one more...

I didn't need Night-Eye, not for this kill... Straight ahead was all I needed to know... _"Soul... Trap..."_

I charged with a fierce battle cry at the mesmerized Khajiit, seconds away from ending it...

My eyes then met with a brand new darkness... A darkness that brought back memories of real war... of real battle... My body hit the ground, very tip of the katana kissing the fur on the beast before it was over... Blood loss, fatigue, energy loss... Overwhelming... The cold and familiar embrace of the ground at the peak of defeat was my final feeling...


	8. Chapter 8

_The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Visage of Morrowind_

_**Episode Eight - A Dragon-Fish's Pride**_

_**Theme: **__**http://www**__**(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=jA1EuCu2_Fk**_

_**Audiomachine - Battle of the Kings**_

Dread and I had remained silent throughout the fight, watching in what could only be described as horror. We watched Dread's hero, and a man who I had considered my best friend... We watched him take beating after beating from the Khajiit and none of us could explain... Eso was supposed to be indestructible, a diamond in the rough fighter...

The entire battle was unfair, I kept telling myself. It was dark, he was tired... Both things that could have been fixed if either of us went in to help. When Eso used his sword, I don't know what came over me... I felt empowered, inspired, happy... So much about him became clear to me, and I knew he would win after that... But with Eso down, I began to fear what Rial would do to us...

Dread's face was featureless. I expected her to be angry, or heartbroken, but there was nothing there. Rial took one, silent step, towards Eso's lifeless body. I refused to accept that he had been killed. At the same time, I couldn't move. I wanted to reach for a blade. I wanted to attack Rial, scream at the top of my voice until I felt better about it, throw every spell I knew at him until everyone stopped moving.

"Get in my way, either of you, and you'll be like him," Rial warned, kneeling down to reach for Eso's katana. Upon first touch, the handle of the sword gave him a slight shock. When he reached again, it did the same. The final time was much more violent, lighting up the area around the beast for a split second before he threw it aside in anger. "What the fuck..."

Eso coughed. I could hear him. He was still alive.

"You fucking cur..." Rial growled. "All of that and you're still not dead... It doesn't matter how impressive your blade was," He raised an arm above Eso. "I'll end it no–!"

Dread's boot impacted, hard, against the skull of Rial. Enough so even by surprise that it threw him to the side, avoiding any farther damage to Eso. She growled at him, and held her position gracefully until Rial had stopped moving. She threw her arms to the sides.

I couldn't feel Rial's anger anymore; it had peaked beyond recognition. All of his growls sounded the same, his voice as loud and mad with every word. When he stood to his feet, both of his blades were drawn. "I warned you..."

I ran to her side and brandished my own blade, a short sword. Much to my surprise, however, she did the same as Eso... She gave me a look; her eyes telling me to step back. Not because I wasn't capable. Not because she didn't want my help. It was all about pride...

"But, Dread..." I tried to argue. She shook her head.

"Enough talking!" Rial screamed, lunging at us. Quickly, Dread threw me back with a cast of her arm and crossed both at her chest. Had I blinked, I would have missed it, but within less than a second, Dread's naked wrists became protected in dark, black and red armor, glistening up to her hands where that same material coated over her fingers. Gauntlets had formed, and absorbed the blow... Not only that, broke the blades in twain upon impact... Another second passed, and an armored fist struck the Khajiit in the jaw and pushed him back. One minor light show later and the armor had faded from her hands... She swiftly spun her body and once more struck the Khajiit; an armored boot identical to the gauntlets took him down. They faded soon as well. Conjuration magicka

Dread did not wait a moment between moves; everything happened too fast for me to keep up. She stood over Rial, a newly-created, Daedric bow armed and held only inches from his face. He froze entirely.

"You know nothing about him..." She spoke. "About his pain nor his pride... You fought dirty; you think you beat him... I'll fight for his pride, in his honor when he cannot. He'd kill you..."

"A-Al... Thea..." Eso forced from his lungs with every breath he could hold, fingers stretching for his katana.

I crouched beside him and rested a hand over his back. I started restoring what minor wounds I could until he was stable, but it wasn't much... "Please, don't move... It's all over..."

"You saplings are all the same... Stupid... Kill me and word will stretch across Tamriel of your deed... Of the Bosmer stupid enough to attack a royal subject... Fucking do it then, and have all of Elsweyr to deal with too... Do it!"

The Khajiit's head then, before Dread and God, simply slipped from his neck... Dread still had her arrow tight between her fingers, both that and the bow beginning to fade, and it wasn't me... Eso held his katana tight, its tip buried in the dirt after one heavy swing. My balance had shifted with his sudden movement; I didn't dare question how he even did it, but an empty slash at the air took form and slit right through the kitten's neck, severing his head and destroying his mane and an eruption of fur.

"You're right Dread... I would..." He sighed, hardly able to hold his low crouch. Before his consciousness faded, he slipped the katana back into place, and flashed the both of us a smile...

***

I had woken up in the back of the caravan, the sun threatening to breach the cloth covering. "You sleep rather soundly for a murderer," A voice claimed from above me. "That's good. You'll need a clear conscience for what I'm– God dammit Eso."

"God dammit, Lucien," I fought from my lungs. Even that hurt. I managed to sit up after a night of actual rest, soreness and burns where bruises and cuts once were. Not a bandage to be found on my rough, scaley skin... I slid the tip of my hood up just enough to allow my sight to embrace the dark figure once again. "How the hell did you get on a moving caravan? How the hell did you not know it was me? How the hell did you get on the same moving caravan twice and still not know it was me?!"

"Bad, bad luck..." He sighed. "Every time someone dies, the closest Speaker heads on to check it out... We have the speech memorized and everything, it's never the same person more than once!"

"I can only wonder why. Any good fighter would kill themselves if they had to put up with you people every time they won a fight..."

"Yeah, yeah. Crack all of the nonsense you must about the Brotherhood, but it appears you stole one of our kin from us."

"I didn't steal her... Dread is one of us, not one of you. You want her back or something?"

"Well of course I want her back! But I can't exactly force her to join. Indred there is an amazing character, one of the best assassins I have ever seen. She appears nothing more than a Bosmer with a bow but her magicka is insane..." Lucien sat down in front of me. "Conjuration and alteration magic is what she's best at. That's hard to find, especially in Mer races."

I sighed. "Sure you can make yourself comfortable where you're not welcome, I don't mind."

He laughed.

"Eso? Are you awake?" Althea called back.

"No," I laughed.

The caravan stopped and the both of them ran as quick as they could into the back, Althea throwing her arms around me after kneeling to my current height. Dread, silent as ever, just watched.

"How are you feeling? Who were you talking to...?"

I looked over to Lucien, who had already vanished. "I'm fine, and no one important."

"Don't tell me you're fine, idiot!" She then yelled, slapping me hard across the face. "You could have been killed!"

"So could Dread! Slap her!"

"She did," Dread sighed.

"...Oh. Well. That's how fighting works!" I recovered, fighting back strained eyes and growls in pain.

"I want to tell you that you didn't have to fight him, that it was pointless and stupid to risk your life... But I understand. There's so much that I don't understand, though... You and Dread are just big mysteries to me and surprise me with something new day after day. Well I'm done being confused and useless. Just promise me that you both will be more careful... I'm not much for fighting, so if another situation like that were to happen..."

"Stop," I interrupted. "You did the right thing staying out of it. If something like that were to happen again, I'm not worried. You shouldn't be either."

"But..."

"Shut up... You're a Dunmer, act more like one! Ruthless, serious, not worried nor afraid of anything," I told her, sliding back a bit to escape her embrace. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Rial's armor and his broken swords. "...Did you...?"

Althea nodded her head, an innocent smile changing the tone of the conversation. "He had a few hundred gold on him..."

Dread giggled slightly, sitting on the floor in front of us. "It's amazing how well you recovered just by sleeping... It's almost unreal."

I tilted my head at her. "You mean that's not natural?"

She tilted her head as well, then shook it.

"I didn't notice before but she's right... You still look a bit beat up but you don't seem nearly as bad as you were."

"It hurts still... A lot... But yeah, sleeping heals wounds better than any medicine... Try it some time," I rolled my eyes, just assuming they were joking. In one of the many bags of loot we concealed, a wooden staff poked its head out, a well carved, small steel skull. I then looked to my old clothes, folded and torn just behind that. Finally, I looked to Dread. "You, come here."

Dread pointed to herself in confusion.

"Yeah. I have something to say to you," I beckoned her over with a curl of my finger. I reached for the staff and slipped it out of the sack. As Dread moved in a bit closer, I examined the wooden weapon and estimated its length. Althea peered at me just as curiously.

Quickly, I swung the wooden stick as hard as I could to my right, hitting the incognito Lucien square in the center of the face. Althea gasped, Dread jumped, and I smiled... However, the now-visible assassin just stared at me, completely unharmed... Both of the girls fought laughter at Lucien's annoyed glare, and I just couldn't take my eyes away, completely dumbstruck.

"What the fuck...?" I asked, striking Lucien once again, in the exact same spot. Still, nothing. Not even a shift in facial expression... I hit him again and again and again, over and over, harder and harder each time. Nothing. He even laughed.

"Eso... What are you doing?" Althea asked in the middle of a giggle.

I growled and threw my weight behind one more swing, breaking the head clean off of the stave, and STILL, no sign of any pain to Lucien.

"Okay. What the fuck kind of magicka is this?" I demanded to know. "Since when the HELL does hitting someone with a stave not hurt?"

"Are you kidding?" Althea asked. "This is Cyrodiil... The people here are more civilized than that."

"Yeah, really," Lucien sighed. "Where do you think you are, Morrowind?"

"...Anyway," I picked up the steel skull and pulled over a broken sword shard from the corner, stabbing precisely into the item. "Dread."

She tilted her head.

"You took a stand in the honor of someone else. You fought for my name, my being, and my pride... Close your eyes."

She did so.

"I cannot respect a person more if they're willing to risk their life for another cause... I've seen war, I've met warriors, all with a reason to fight... None of their reasons had anything to do with someone else's cause," I tied the knot tight, feeding the faded gold rope through one hole in the skull and out of the other, letting it dangle just over the neck of her shirt. I then took that same sword fragment and traced it just below the chest of her shirt, cutting the cloth clean off and tearing the rest. I could see she had a nervous face, but when I asked her to open her eyes, I finally saw a defined smile.

My old cloak, the black cape and hood with rigid edges cut at the waist, wrapped around her shoulders. The rope that held it together now decorated with the steel skull dead center, her hood up just like mine. She was smaller than I, thus the cape extended a little farther than her waist, and the hood a bit big, but it still looked right on her. Her lean stomach exposed almost completed her new look. She began to talk, but I interrupted.

"One more thing," I reached for my old belt and played, creatively mind you, with that steel blade fragment. I cut off a pouch and re-used the cloth as a mean to attach Dread's white, wooden quiver to the hip, as opposed to her back. I held the finished project out to her. "It's yours. Any additions you want on it, and I'll hook you up."

The wetness in her eyes made them shimmer a bit. Her shoulders shook and she knelt her head down to hide crying, the hood fulfilling its purpose well. Althea just smiled and wrapped her in a hug. She was even silent while weeping... Still, I smiled. I gave her a moment to dwell before she accepted the gift and hooked it around the waist. Also a little big, it leaned down on the side that held the quiver. It was a great look for her, I thought, and really completed the badass look.

"You don't have to say anything," I reassured her, whom was fighting hard for words. I held out a closed fist towards her, and a moment after processing my offer, she did it back, connecting fists with me. I turned to Althea, my gaze asking her to do the same. And she did. "You two have saved my ass, and my blade and I will always be around to protect yours. We're a family now, got it?"

Now I had Althea crying. We remained as we were until I broke the bond, forcing myself up to my feet. "Now, come on. We're minutes away from the Imperial City, let's go!"

The two of them dried their eyes before standing up with me.

"You heard Rial though... Now that he's dead, all of Elsweyr will know... They'll come after us," Althea worried.

"Fuck," I laughed. "I'm sure they're just as happy to be rid of him as we are. I can take everything they throw at us, and I damn well look forward to it. And besides..." I smirked. "Elsweyr is full of pussies."

* * *

"Ha. I see what you did there. Elsweyr is full of Khajiit. Pussies."

"Shut up, Lucien..."

"And that stave thing, you can't hit people and do damage with staves in Oblivion. That was good too."

"Shut up."


	9. Chapter 9

Big thank you to DeusExfreak for the reviews and kind words.

www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/u/656372/

Check it out, he's good

* * *

_**The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Visage of Morrowind**_

_**Episode Nine - Welcome to the City**_

_**Theme: **__**http://www**__**(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=jA1EuCu2_Fk**_

_**Audiomachine - Battle of the Kings**_

The guards at the entrance welcomed us beyond the massive gates. The hooves of our horses knocked against the wooden bridge over a massive water body, the wheels of the caravan following tandem. The three of us sat up front. I was almost ready to sit back and relax, enjoying the five minutes of time we had before we got into some kind of trouble. Almost.

"Halt," a voice demanded.

"No," I demanded back. Althea forced the horses to stop. Again. Come on! We're right there!

"I apologize for my intrusion," A young lady asked of us just as we passed the entrance gates into the massive steel sentinel of a city. "But I must ask your origin in the name of the Imperial Legion."

I managed to peer over the stupid horse to get a look at the girl. Most of her features hid behind the standard helm of the Imperial guard, only a pair of blue eyes exposed from the silver body armor. She couldn't have been much older than me, I thought, if older at all... I stood straight up to get an even better look. Our eyes met directly. Time froze.

I could feel her gaze swimming in mine; I'm sure she felt the same. The wind stole the end of my cape and gently brushed it back, exposing the end of my katana... I'm sure her eyes had fixed on the imperial seal that decorated the tip of the scabbard, just as my eyes fixed on her. She was unarmed, or at least seemed that way. Many pouches decorated the belt wrapped to her waist, not unlike mine used to have. Three at each hip, each one seemed weighed down by something(or an abundance of something) that simply pushed it below her waistline.

I didn't care much for the beautiful scenery, massive buildings, or rich environment... I didn't care much that the end of our short journey was coming to an end. No. The first real thing to linger in my mind was the look in this woman's eyes. I recognized it so much, the emotionless stare of a warrior. Althea stood up to speak, but I cut her off.

"We're merchants," I lied. "Our caravan is full of supplies that we are interested in trading."

"Yeah, that's usually how merchants work , but thanks," The Imperial laughed. "Pardon my paranoia. I'm sure you've heard of the serial killer? We are taking no chances."

"We understand," Althea smiled. "Just for our safety, though... If you don't mind, is there any information you can give us?"

I blinked at Althea. "But we don't care..." I whispered.

"Shut up! I do!" She whispered back.

"I'm afraid I can't display much, Dunmer. All I can say is stay safe, stay off the streets at night," The lady sighed and stepped out of our way. "You may proceed."

Another silent moment passed between me and the girl. The horses trotted by and our eyes met once again.

When I set my eyes on an Imperial, flashes of the war engulf me. My fight, my defeat, the many battles before that day. I loved my people; I loved my race and my homeland, and every Imperial I've ever met badmouths them. They're all racist, disgusting animals. But this girl had something more. Something I couldn't leave the city without knowing.

"Hard to believe that we're finally here, isn't it?" Althea smiled at me. "Quite a long way from Chorrol."

"Yeah, really. But... I've been thinking," I took a deep breath, almost afraid to ask. "What happens next? You get to sell your shit, but then what?"

"I get paid," She laughed.

"...And after that?"

"Never really thought of it, Eso. We're travelers now, we go wherever we want... You, Dread, and I."

I kind of smiled. I looked to Dread, (who looked amazing in her cloak, might I add), who smiled back at me.

"Alright then!" I stopped the horses before we inched too deep into the city and quickly jumped off of the seat. "This place is massive. Althea, where's the best place to sleep here?"

"Well, we are _**merchants**_ now, right? The Merchant's Inn is the best place," Althea remained atop the seat with Dread.

"Alright. We'll meet there!" I pointed to the sky. "We worked hard to get here so we might as well enjoy it. I'll split up from you two for a while, scout the town out a bit. I swear to the nine that if I have to save you from guards here..."

"You won't have to!" Althea laughed heartily.

***

_ Dread can do that..._

It took about an hour after parting with Eso to find the right vendor. Crafty speech allowed me to increase my offers, however the abundance of items I had to sell were too much for most of them. For the market that was supposed to be the most wealthy and unique amongst the Cyrodiil marketplace, almost everyone was poor! What the hell happened?!

It was weird having Dread around that whole time. I wondered what people who saw us thought, since she was so much younger... Sister? Daughter maybe... But she was a Bosmer, that couldn't come out of me...

Then again, there were so many interracial couples here... I could see them walking hand in hand, Dunmer to Altmer, Bosmer to Imperial, what the hell man? So what happens to their children? Can they even make children?... Can you imagine what a Khajiit to Argonian baby would look like...? Oh my god... What kind of skooma-high dating service did these people use and how can I be apart of it?

Dread lightly pulled on my shirt to get my attention. When I looked at her, she held her finger to a shop called "Divine Elegance". We stopped the caravan right outside of the door. The moment we walked in, I could tell the owner was wealthy... Wall to wall clothing of the upper class, cabinets full of jewelry and display cases of weapons. I wanted to hug the Bosmer if I wasn't trying to look professional.

The only person in the room other than us was a tall, young Altmer in a red dress. Didn't care much for her appearance... They all looked the same to me. I felt a bit of Eso rubbing off on me there.

"Hello there! Welcome to Divine Elegance!" She said with nauseating enthusiasm. I took a deep breath. It's for the money.

"Um... Yes! Hey!" I smiled. "The two of us are traveling merchants, you see, and we would love to do business with you!"

Dread nodded her head, smiling and flashing a cute face, mimicking my poses.

"Oh dear. I'm sorry Miss! I don't do business with low class merchants..."

...That bitch.

"...Did anyone ever tell you that you're pretty?" I asked. Admire.

"Oh well! How nice of you!"

"Yeah, yeah," I followed. "Um... What a sexy figure!" Coerce

"You're too kind."

"I'm one of the best merchants alive." Boast.

"...Are not."

Failure.

"..."

Dread sighed and slowly walked over to the lady. She looked up at the Altmer and tilted her head. Dread placed her hand on the shoulder of the High Elf, and only a second later, a big smiled imprinted on her face.

Dread pointed to the door. "Buy."

"Of course I will! You two are such great merchants, I'd be stupid not to buy your merchandise!"

"...What did you do...?" I whispered to Dread as she trotted on back to my side with a cocky smile.

"Illusion magicka," She whispered back. We followed close behind the Altmer and out the door, allowing her to inspect the back of our caravan. As she crawled in and out of sight, I tightly hugged the little Bosmer and shook her around in excitement.

A few moments later the elf escaped our jungle of clutter and stepped out from the caravan. I stared with such anticipation and excitement on how much we would get for all of it that I wanted to jump her and shake the answers out of her. She inhaled to speak.

"I'll pay 1500 gold for it," She said.

... "..."

"What?"

"2000 gold and I'll sell," I combatted her. 1500 wasn't enough.

"1700 gold," She combatted back.

Dread simply touched her again.

"...2500 gold," The Altmer offered. I quickly accepted before the charm wore off, and almost tackled Dread to the ground in hugs.

***

I bounced the bag of 500 gold Althea paid me when we first met in my hands, wandering about the city and raising much suspicion. I kept my Akaviri Katana hidden behind my cloak very carefully, fearing what would happen if someone saw me with it here. The Imperials were everywhere, and it sickened me.

Far off in my gaze, I could see a pair of familiar eyes, something that instantly stole my attention from my mental racism. The farther I stepped, the closer I became, and more interested. There she was.

_Shadow,_ I thought to myself. There she was, and there I went, vanishing before the eyes of many closed minded Imperials. This way, I had no fear of being caught spying. I simply wasn't there. I ran close enough to eavesdrop silently on her conversation with other Imperial Guards.

"You can take the rest of the day off, Imperial Veralyn. You must be tired from watching the gate," One of the male guards commented. I heard it as if it were a joke; it didn't make sense to say otherwise...

"Yeah, really. Don't see many female guards jumping at the chance to stand in the sun," The other guard joked... They were talking down to her? One of their own?

The blue-eyed girl, Imperial Veralyn they called her, just stood there. I could hardly believe what I was hearing. I wanted her to rage, take them down and walk away proud.

...Why the hell did I feel this way?

The lady just smiled behind her helm, thanked them for their "kindness", and walked in my direction. I could hear the sarcasm in her voice, and the strain in her throat as she mouthed "thank you". I knew that look in her eyes very well. Scorn. She walked right by me and as I stood paralyzed, she seemed to look right into my eyes as if she had seen through my camouflage.

"Solare," She whispered to me in a laugh. "Solare Veralyn... Welcome to the city."


	10. Chapter 10

Big thank you to DeusExfreak for the reviews and kind words.

www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/u/656372/

Check it out, he's good

* * *

_**The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Visage of Morrowind**_

_**Episode Ten - A Whole New Arc, Pit Dog**_

_**Theme: http://www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=Z6KilO_AiZU&fmt=18**_

_**Globus - Take Me Away**_

I followed her. In her own, silent way, she told me to. There was no need for the Shadow power any longer, and the moment she spoke I relinquished it.

"That was a nice little trick," I commented. "How'd you see me?"

Solare laughed a bit. "When you're in the business I'm in, Argonian, you have to see through better than that."

"What 'business' would that be?" I dared to ask.

She just turned and smiled. "I can't say. Secret shit."

"Waste of an introduction... What the fuck is up with you?" I once more, dared to ask.

"What do you mean?" She asked back.

"You look the same as everyone else here. What makes you so different?"

"I was going to ask you the same, merchant. Why are you so different?"

"I have a long history of skin infections, scratching so much turned me red," I growled a bit. "I'm no different than you."

"Ah. Maybe not from me, but from them," She spread an arm out, acknowledging the populous. "From them, you're fresh air."

I followed behind her, out of curiosity and nothing else. Solare led me down street after street, as if she herself were lost, and back and forth we exchanged banter. She said she grew up in Morrowind just as I did, and could feel an aura coming off of me that we were alike.

"You don't think you're being a bit too trusting?" I asked of her. "You don't even know my name yet you act like I mean something to you. You need not waste your breath if you have a point to make."

"To be walking around in an outfit like that, you stick out, and you're obviously a fighter with that sword on your back. Not even to mention you're the only Argonian to be seen for miles. If you did something, it wouldn't be hard to figure out it was you."

"That wouldn't stop me. Cover my tracks and kill the witnesses, who's to say another guard didn't do it?" I threw the weight on her.

Once more, she just laughed.

"You're not threatening me, babe. I know I've got nothing to fear confiding in you. The fact that you haven't killed me yet tells me there's something you want, and you have to be nice to me so long as you want it."

I sighed. "Fine, fine. You're not racist, why?"

"You're not sexist, why?"

"Because that's not who I am. Now you."

"There you go," She simply said.

"Don't give me that... You Imperial assholes are the entire reason Morrowind is in the shit it's in right now. You mean to tell me you have no part?" I demanded.

"Yeah, basically," She shrugged at me.

"Bullshit."

"Hey now. Protecting the Imperial City and Cyrodiil is my job as an Imperial Legion soldier, not enslaving races and raping their women."

"I suppose it's not the Imperial Legion's job to whip Argonian slaves and put them to work like animals either?"

"I don't care about the bad choices of other Imperial Soldiers, it's none of my concern. I have a job to do just like everyone else."

"And look how much respect you get for doing that job."

Solare fell quiet.

"You Imperial Legion guards... You act like there's a unity amongst you, like you hold some kind of honor and respect for one another when really it's everyone for themselves, isn't it? I heard those snide remarks, and I'm sure they weren't the first or the most offensive," I barked at the lady.

And still, she spoke not a word. Instead, she paused her stride at the door of what I presumed to be her home. She stood there for a silent moment before opening her doors. "I have matters that I must attend to. You may not be the one I was searching for, Argonian, but you're certainly a find."

"My name is Eso," I called to her, just before she closed her door behind her.

"Eso, then."

A couple of hours passed before I believed it was time to meet up with the girls. I made my way back to the inn we decided upon, where the two of them waited patiently with a hopefully-empty caravan. Before the nice introduction followed by idle dialogue, Althea came running to me with a parchment clenched hard in her hands. She was excited, smiling, and made sure to talk loud.

"Eso, look at this!" She jumped, handing me the paper. I slightly peered at it, and saw the only words I needed to. The Arena.

"No," I was quick to answer.

"...Why not?!" She demanded to know.

"Why in the hell should I get involved in that? Just a bunch of useless fighting to help the Imperial's get their rocks off. No thanks," I sighed, pushed passed both of them and inside of the inn.

"Come on now, Eso! Do you see how much money is involved in this? Over five thousand gold, Eso!" Althea cried.

"Yeah," I said to the owner to get his attention. "One room for three, biggest room you have."

"100 gold, sir," The elf raised a brow at me. "Right up the stairs."

I placed the amount on the counter from my payment and nodded my head at him.

"Eso, you'd be able to take this out in no problem and you know it," Althea crossed her arms. Dread mimicked.

"I'm not as good as I used to be, Althea," I exhaled heavily.

"You're just as good as you ever were, Eso... You just need the right inspiration! I know you're amazing, and I have such a huge feeling about The Arena... So many people are talking about the Grand Champion, and how he's undefeated..."

Hm...

"And... I didn't want to say this out loud, Eso, I really didn't, but it's something you should hear..." Althea looked around. "A lot of people have been saying that a retired Blade is participating... Your sword has an Imperial seal, so unless he is a direct body guard of Uriel Septim, the guy it belongs to has to have been from here... How many Blade members could there be in one city?"

...

I could feel it the moment she begun speaking, the slowing beat of my heart until its sudden stop. My eyes shot open wide and the images of the fight flashed through my mind. His eyes, his armor, his words... He couldn't really...?

I tried to avoid Althea's gaze by absorbing Dread's, whose saddened face told me she agreed.

"What do you have to lose?" Althea asked. "Worst case scenario, it's not him and you get the fight of a life time from the Grand Champion, get a couple thousand gold from it, and walk away a winner. I took a deep breath.

"What do you think, Dread...?" I whispered.

"I think that it'd be good for you. I believe your character desperately needs an outlet to let out years of rage and fight until it gets boring... Something you need to do to keep you sane and keep your life going..."

But it wasn't my life anymore. I've wanted to avoid it for so long.

"We're warriors at heart..." She smiled. "It's our way of life, we can't just stop. You won't regret it."

"You heard her!" Althea jumped again. "Show them how real fighters with real pride do it!"

"Stop screaming in my establishme–"

"Heartfelt moment, shut up," I told the owner.

"So? What's your answer?" Althea asked me, the both of them looking up to me with excited eyes.

I sighed...

* * *

"My name is Owyn," The Redguard laughed at me. "And let me get this straight. YOU want to join the Arena as a combatant?"

"And YOU want to use cliches to get your point across? Oh no, an Argonian fighter, the nine help us, blah blah... Sign me up already," I growled at him.

"Had nothing to do with you being a lizard, boy," Owyn snapped back. "You're scrawny, and you look weak. I don't let pussies fight in the name of the Blue Team."

"Then you must have sucked a lot of dick to get where you're at..." I mumbled.

"What did you say?!" He asked.

"I said you don't have to be a prick about it," I lied. "I don't kiss up to your kind. Sign me up, now."

"Fine, fine. It's your own damn fault if your lady friends back there don't get to see you in the morning. Now, in order to even fight, you have to wear an Arena raiment to make sure you aren't cheating with enchantments. Do you want the light one or the heavy one?"

"Neither. I'd rather be worn as someone's boots than wear that ugly skirt... I'll just fight without armor, how's that?"

"Are you fucking crazy?" The Redguard shook his head. "I guess you could do that, but it'd be stupid!"

"I'd rather be stupid than ugly... I'm sorry you didn't have a choice," I smirked at his twisted, angry face. Joke was all I knew how to do in awkward times like this. I didn't want to be there, and I knew that by the end of this faction, _something_ would happen, this I agreed with Althea on. "All I need is my cloak, my pants, my belt, and my weapons... I'll fight topless to ensure I have no special armor."

"Y-You don't need to go that far, Eso..." Althea giggled quietly at Dread, who blushed at the thought (Even though she herself was now half-topless. I take full credit for the design).

"Sure I do, are you serious? I've seen those ugly raiments, those are disgusting!" Growls escaped. My heart raced, my blood pumped, and my mind wiped completely clean of clear thoughts. It was the feeling of adrenaline. The feeling of empowerment before a fight. The feeling of war.

"Whatever you say, lizard... Suit up and get out there, I'll arrange your match when you're ready, Pit Dog."


	11. Chapter 11

Big thank you to DeusExfreak for the reviews and kind words.

www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/u/656372/

Check it out, he's good

_**The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Visage of Morrowind**_

_**Episode Eleven - Back in Action, Shimmerstrike!**_

_**Theme: Road to Viridian City - www(dot)youtube(dot)**__**com/watch?v=iFYpORcRp6M**_

_** Eso: Haha. Aren't you clever. That theme would be hilarious if you used it one chapter ago. Retard.**_

Soldiers are trained to kill people. Not only that, they're trained to believe killing people is okay. No matter what time period or dimension you're in, it's always going to be like that. For that reason alone, the first several fights of the arena weren't worth talking about. A couple punches there, a swift orc-kick every once in a while, and they went down. They weren't even worth discussing...

"You fucking suck," Owyn complained, daring to throw his ugly afro in my face. "You think you're a big deal because you beat a couple people?"

"No. No I do not. I in fact never even said anything to you."

"...Oh. Okay. Well yeah. You still suck, and other encouraging insults."

"Whatever makes you feel better."

Althea and Dread giggled behind me.

"Mouth off all you want to, Argonian. You're at 350 gold right now, do you want to step down?"

Was he kidding?

"No," I said with a sigh. Althea let out a small cheer.

"Alright then. Now that you're a Myrmidon, your next opponent is going to be a Bosmer. But he's not your regular, useless Bosmer fighte-"

Dread sneaked over to my right and glared at Owyn.

"...All three of you are weird. I'm throwing it out there right now."

"Hey now, Dread here could probably drop you quicker than I could, watch your tongue around her," I warned him.

"Less banter, more money," Althea sneaked on to my left.

"Fine, fine. Your next opponent is a Bosmer, and he's not using a bow."

"Oh no," I rolled my eyes.

Owyn sighed. "He's a pretty mediocre fighter but he uses an enchanted dagger, probably the only reason he's still in this tournament."

"...Alrighty then, let me iron this out in my head. God forbid I wear my armor dedicated to stealth, but if I had an insta-death dagger that's perfectly legal?"

"Yeah, sounds about right."

I forced a sigh as loud as I could, turned to both Althea and Dread for a quick meeting of eyes, and made my way out towards the battlefield. "Hurry up to the stands you two, this won't last long."

The two of them nodded.

* * *

"Good people of the Imperial City, welcome to the Arena!" The announcer shouted into his mic.

I stood behind the caged bars on my side of the dusty arena, after climbing the winding stairs from the Bloodworks. I couldn't see much from the distance, but the Bosmer didn't look so bad. Completely topless, exposing my bare chest and scarred torso, my arms crossed over my breast in impatience. The hood was all I needed, the cape adding dramatic fashion with every blow of the wind.

"The Yellow Team's combatant has slain many opponents with his magical dagger, Shimmerstrike. Let's see if the Blue Team can end his winning streak!"

"Go, Eso!" Cheered Althea and Dread from the front row stands, standing on top of their seats just to appear louder.

The gates slowly began to lower, and I stepped out of my cage the moment I could, and the Bosmer did the same. The two of us slowly walked towards the center of the field, my arms crossed and his arms ready. Getting my closer look, I could see he wasn't much for looks. Black hair, light yellow raiment, his dagger in hand and a humorous facial expression. I doubted he took me seriously, but I doubted that I cared.

"I was told my opponent was a washed-up war hero. What are you supposed to be?"

"I'm an Imperial, I'm just hideously deformed. And what are you, an adoring fan?"

"Please," He laughed, lowering his body into a lame stance, flipping his dagger around his palm so the blade pointed up.

"I'm doing this for you, Althea!" I screamed into the audience, too lazy to actually look at her. You know the feeling.

Time to get serious, I suppose. Reaching to my belt, I pulled both of my dwarven daggers from their holsters and hissed a bit for the show. On one end of the spectrum, I was actually pretty bored with this. Nine fights into this arena and I have no money and no challenge. On the other end, I was kind of excited to see this dagger do its thing.

He charged at me.

The tip of his dagger found itself caught between an X formation of my own daggers, blocking it from my skin and keeping it still. The man threw all of his weight into the stab, and I could feel him still pushing back. He grit his teeth into a smile and held his position. The blade began to shine in the stalemate.

"That scar on your body... Let me add to it!" He screamed, adding in one final thrust with his dagger. The shining blade broke through my daggers, completely shattering them at the hilt, leaving only their handles still within my grip. Everything seemed to slow down in life threatening situations, almost to a stop. I could see his dagger coming for me, I could feel its light shining against my chest, but I couldn't think of what to do. There wasn't enough time to throw my body either direction...

I grabbed his wrist. Duh.

The tip of the blade had damaged my skin, and pressed hard enough to make me bleed, but my grip prevented any farther damage. He threw his fist at me with the other hand, and the blow to the face knocked me back and released his hand. I stepped back with the blow to lessen the force and dodged several repeated slashes at my body. When I got the second to myself, rolled to the side along the soil to put distance between us. I held the two dagger handles out to my sides. Frost seeped from between my fingertips.

"Cold touch..." I whispered.

"Stop running from me!" The Bosmer cried, charging at me once again to close in the distance.

The frozen touch of ice connected with my palms, and a crystalline blue glimmered in the sunlight as he approached. My closed fists slowly began to open, making room for an ascending spike coming from the handles. Three feet each, I estimated the thin stakes to be. They weren't smooth or artistically formed, but they were sharp at the point, they were dangerous and threatening. They were pure ice...

I threw one of the stakes at the Bosmer to slow him down, and charged with the other. He easily knocked the ice away with a slash of the dagger, showing me the damage resistance of my new toys. The two of us thrusted our blades at the other, and mine was destined to hit first because of its size. My blade connected with his chest, and his extended arm could almost reach me. He was determined to hit me. He was determined to kill me with his dagger. Instead of stopping, he continued to charge, pushing back against the point of my stake and I pushed against him just the same. I pierced his chest, his blood tainted the clear color of the ice, and he forced the blade even deeper into his body. He inched closer and closer, and the tip of his dagger managed to kiss my flesh, but by then, the blade had pierced through his back...

His arms lifelessly fell to his sides, his dagger slipping from his fingers and hitting the ground. The Bosmer's body fell against the ice, and once I refused to support him any longer, I let go of my own weapon. He fell back against the dust, the stained ice dripping against his corpse, absorbing the crimson liquid from hitting the ground. I knelt my head down to allow the hood to conceal my gaze. I turned my back and walked away from the corpse, not even waiting for the announcer to congratulate me on my victory. The audience roared with sadistic cheers; Althea and Dread cheered for me as well, hugging each other in victory. I waved back at them before disappearing into the stairwell, counting the steps I took into the Bloodworks.

"Good people, we have a winner! All hail the combatant from the Blue Team!"

Yeah. All hail me, a trained killer murdering a naive man. I wasn't happy. I felt no guilt, no remorse and no mourn for his death. I didn't feel a thing. Not a thing but unsatisfaction.

* * *

ES4O Visage of Morrowind is back with its second arc lowly approaching. I'm only going to write Arena battles significant to the story, if I wrote one chapter for every fight I would be writing 22 chapters of Arena with no advancement in the story. After a break I probably didn't deserve, I'm hoping to get back into it all. Wish me luck and support the release of new chapters.


	12. Chapter 12

Big thank you to DeusExfreak for the reviews and kind words.

www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/u/656372/

Check it out, he's good

* * *

Solare: I knew I'd be seeing you around, Eso.

Eso, wearing sunglasses: You were right to think so. Looks like I'm becoming quite the popular character.

Solare: I can see that. I bet you're looking forward to fighting with the pig at the end of the Arena

Eso: Damn right. Who would our opponent be?

Solare: You'll be fighting... Two Dunmer and a Nord.

Eso: Hm. Then we'll just have to send those piggies *Slides sunglasses off* All the way home.

* * *

_**Shadow of The CSI: Oblivion**_

_**Episode Twelve - My Special Attack!**_

_**Theme: **__**http://www**__**(Dot)youtube(Dot)com/watch?v=eRFUv2rG244&feature=related**_

_**CSI: Miami Theme Song**_

I tore them apart, each fight more difficult than the last. They were Nords, Dunmers, Bosmers, Khajiit, each one falling to my feet. Still, there remained that lingering feeling... The need for satisfaction. I joined this tournament for the sole reason of finding that man, that disgusting Imperial... The man Althea spoke of _had_ to be him. The only clue I had was his history as a Blade and an Imperial Legion guard, but it had to be him for the sake of my sanity... I thought I had disclosed the topic from my mind entirely, but if I said I wasn't haunted by that night every time I closed my eyes, I'd be lying. If I said I didn't remember his face, every pore of his skin, I'd be lying. If I said I didn't want to murder him more than I wanted to live, I'd be lying.

I pretended to be okay. I couldn't expect Althea and Dread to understand, I couldn't expect them to see how I really felt with the cocky smile I wore and my encouraging words. Every hundred gold I made, I gave to Althea to take care of and snuggle with when she watched the fights.

"Who's my next opponent, Level 10 Imperial Owyn?" I asked.

"Don't overstep your boundaries Level X Argonian Eso, I am still your superior and you will talk to me as such. One more match is all you need to advance again, up to Gladiator rank. Most combatants never make it that far, but you're an exception aren't you? Your next opponent is the most savage, blood crazed Orc I've ever seen, and believe me I've seen a lot of them. She can swing her hammer at over 1000 PSI of force!"

"Dammit Owyn, this isn't Mythbusters! Give it to me straight!"

"Lab work, fingerprints, field work, chemicals, futuristic technology, spanish people, drug busts." (Summary of CSI Miami.)

"That somehow made it more clear. I understand now."

"This will easily be your hardest fight so far. The moment you're ready, you can run on up to the field and make more money! She's very fit, so be careful!"

"See now... I was okay with you until that line. She's very fit? I'd hope so! I don't want to fight a fat-fuck Orc. All contestants in this Arena have been fit, what makes you feel like she is so fit that it's unique?"

"Eso looks kind of cool in sunglasses..." Althea teased. Dread nodded her head.

"I agree," Solare smirked from Althea's right, making her jump.

"You know Eso?" She asked.

Solare nodded. "You can consider us friends. You must be his travel-buddies."

"You can call us that," Althea said. "Even though this journey was my idea..." She mumbled.

"I'm hoping to see that sword work of his, he hasn't touched that katana at all during the tournament, it's kind of disappointing."

"Well his katana wasn't really meant for battle... It's more like a symbol."

"Why do you say that?" Solare asked. "A sword is a sword, you use it to cut things."

"Let's just say it's for emergencies...? Dread and I have only seen its work for a couple of seconds but those seconds were breathtaking."

"That only excites me more..."

"Good people of the Imperial City, welcome to the Arena!"

The announcer did his thing and I did mine, ignoring it. I could see the Orc from here, and oh my god was she massive. She was easily the thickest one I've ever seen, her muscles pouring out of the seems in her armor. _That's_ what Owyn meant... The blunt end of her hammer was the size of a child, and the way it rested so easily on her broad shoulders was scary. With my daggers broken, I don't think my fists are going to do anything against this monster... But I had a secret weapon for this fight.

Before I knew it, the gates had lowered and the bull was charging. I panicked. Left or right, left or right. I ran to the left and ducked behind a pillar just to avoid looking at her. Her body was completely covered in armor, aside from her head, the part I preferred she had covered the most. On second thought, imagine the vag on that thing. If I was ever stranded in the desert, I could probably sleep in it.

She swung her monstrous hammer at the pillar and easily knocked it down, throwing it off to the side to crash into the dust and form a crater. When the dust had settled, I had vanished.

All I needed was an ignorant horse and a flashlight in my sword and we had a cosplay going. Fuck it, I was totally doing it anyway.

The colossus stomped its feet into the dirt and let out a massive roar, trying to expose my hiding place.

"Oh no..." Althea whispered. Dread leaned against her, and Solare had her eyes glued on the fight.

I hadn't _really _vanished; there's a reason that I was such an awesome Shadowscale. In reality, I had just walked around her hiding with my cloaking ability. I took a deep breath, slid my hood down, and reached behind my head. I canceled my cloak.

"Here it is," Solare stood up, excited.

"I was going to save this for the Imperial, but you're just asking for it lady..." I wrapped my fingers around the handle of the katana, said my prayer to the nine, and pulled.

The familiar force of wind surrounded the Arena in a harsh tempest. The steel of the sword slowly exposed to the air, drowning in a beautiful, blinding light on every inch.

Release us.

Use us.

Fight with us.

The Orc had managed to turn around in the time it took me to pull the Akaviri Katana free. The blade reached its full length of about four feet, its blade clean of scratches or damage of any kind. Once the sword was naked, the wind had died, and the light had faded. The steel had shifted to a sinister black color, glistening with an alternating red aura. I could hear whispers, I could feel their presence. I could even see their spirits standing beside me... The Argonian people, the soldiers of Black Marsh, the power of my race...

"It's beautiful..." Solare whispered.

"I can see it, Colossus! Your vital point is clear as day to me!" I knelt down low. "Prepare yourself for my special attack!"

"Oh god," Dread and Althea coughed simultaneously.

"What's he talking about...?"

"You'll see..." Althea fought back laughter as she told Solare.

The Orc roared as loud as she could and aimed to slam her hammer down. I waited as long as I could for a slide off of my heels to dodge it, then pushing as hard as I could against the ground to spring up in a jump. I charged directly at her, soaring long enough in the air. I spun my body around as hard as I could.

"Foot-to-Ugly-Orc's-Face Attack!" I screamed, striking the Colossus' cheek as hard as I could with a turn of my waist to roundhouse. The heel of my foot buried into her skin; I could feel her skull against my foot cracking. I used my position and her temporary paralysis to kick off of her shoulder and back-flip away from her.

"Soul Trap!" I screamed again, lighting my entire sword in crimson aura. I hung upside-down for only a moment, the only moment I needed. I threw the katana with all of my remaining strength, completed the flip, and landed perfectly on the ground in a beautiful crouch. Everyone had fallen silent, and I held my position as still as possible. The katana pierced right through the Orc's face, buried in skin up to the hilt until the blade stabbed out of the other end. She roared one final time before she was brought down to earth. The crowd screamed in cheers.

I stood up straight and stretched out the fatigue in my muscles. Pacing slowly to retrieve my blade, I made sure the Orc didn't have an ounce of energy left in her body. My sword shook violently, trying to contain her soul. Once I ripped the weapon from her head, I knew the absorption was successful. I could hear her roars in my head in unison with the whispers of the spirits...

"One of these days, I'll use you to your full potential... You've served me well over these years, and I hope you continue to work with me, if only for a little longer... Hopefully, we won't have much more to fight for."

"People of the Imperial City, we have a winner!"

"Looks like that Orc..."

I threw off my sunglasses.

"Just got fucked."

* * *

I wrote both Chapters Eleven and Twelve in the matter of a morning, and they both turned out pretty good.


	13. Chapter 13

_**Althea: Well, shall we start?**_

_**Dread: Time to Begin**_

_**Solare: Let's do it**_

_**Eso: Shut the fuck up and start**_

_**

* * *

  
**_

_**The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Visage of Morrowind**_

_**Episode Thirteen - Amongst Hist Trees**_

_**Theme: http://www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=qQUhCUWTrr8**_

_**Lucky Star - Motteke Sailor Fuku**_

_ When I found free time, I loved nothing more than to sit at the base of the Hist Trees, watching the gentle flow of the water our race loved so much. There was never a time I wasn't protected in my silver armor; it had become just another part of me. If my claymore wasn't on my back, it was in my hands, stabbed into the soil with my sitting body resting with it. This is what my life had become, waiting for the call to fight and kill another being for the sake of my land. If it wasn't them, it was one of us._

_ "Always-Alone would be your name if you ever got caught," Ocheeva teased, sitting beside me along the same lumber. _

_ "Nosey-Bitch would be yours," I threw back at her._

_ She laughed, leaning her body against mine and resting her head on my shoulder. "Yeah, probably."_

_ "What kind of response was that?" I smiled at her, throwing an arm over her shoulder to hold her closer to me. _

_ "The kind that comes from a concerned fiancée."_

_ "You're not my fiancée yet."_

_ "I will be once you ask."_

_ I laughed at her._

_ "Come on now," She laughed back. "What's going on with you? Is this war shit getting to you?"_

_ What kind of dumb question... "Yeah, I think so."_

_ "Well then quit."_

_ "Are you kidding? This 'war shit' is all I have..."_

_ "It's not all you have. You have me, you have a family in the Dark Brotherhood, we all want you back in the Sanctuary... Come back with me, please..."_

_ "I told you it was Eso!" Boasted the voice of a child, thinking he was sneaky hiding in the water._

_ "What is he doing here?" Asked another._

_ "He should be with the King of Morrowind eating golden food by now..." Mouthed a third._

_ Golden food...? What?_

_ "You can come out, I'm not going to kill you," I beckoned._

_ The three nervous hatchlings slowly came out of the swamps, two males of light red scales, and a female of light green. _

_ "They're cute," Ocheeva shook me for my attention._

_ "We just wanted to see Eso..." The tallest of the three said, all of them trying to hide behind the other. They weren't scared, they were nervous..._

_ "For anything important?" I asked them._

_ "No... Just to thank you," The youngest, the female, forced out. "My brothers and I are really grateful for what you're doing... Our mommies and daddies are too, all of Black Marsh is..."_

_ I was quiet._

_ "We didn't want to bug you, but we overheard some of the adults talking... They said something big is going to happen, you know it too don't you?"_

_ I nodded my head._

_ "No one is telling us anything... But we trust you, Eso. If you're in charge of our protection, we're all safe," Smiled the oldest, one of the males._

_ "Sounds important to me..." I tried not to smile. I actually felt like crying. "But you're damn right we're all safe."_

_ They all smiled._

_ I stood to my feet, pulled my blade from the ground, and raised it high over my head. "No one stands a chance against me. Not a single soul will break through my offense! I'll protect you, Ocheeva, your mommies and daddies, and all of the Argonians who confide in me their trust. I promise you that!"_

_** *****_

The look of admiration on the children's faces, the look of respect from Ocheeva, and that feeling of being loved and appreciated... It was all something I refused to let go. Looking back on it only makes me hate myself more. I never forgave myself, and I could never forgive myself. I should have gone with Ocheeva back to the Brotherhood... I wonder how much different my life would be...

Watching the brick and mortar structure of the arena ceiling didn't do much for me. The beds they provided really sucked dick... I had this searing burn in my neck every time I woke up, a terrible pain... Now, that pain alone kept me up at night, forcing me to think things I'd be better off not thinking about. I laid there quietly, all night, doing nothing. I guess it was better than sleeping in a hotel room that I paid for, Althea and Dread!

When Owyn had walked into his set position, I could see the anger and distraught on his face. Usually he would wake me up with something stupid, but now he's silent. I sat up in my bed and asked.

"Who's my next opponent?"

"Wait until your friends get here," He demanded.

"Why? They'll be in the stands anyway."

"I'd rather they be here when I tell you."

"...Sure. Okay,"

It took about an hour, a full, impatient hour, for Althea and Dread to show up. Solare came with them. She refused to miss another fight after she saw my work with the Orc.

"I don't want you to do this for me, Eso..." Althea pulled me to the side.

"Where's this coming from?"

"Well... I talked you into this and I feel like I'm using you and... I shouldn't be doing that to my best friend."

"Best friend...?"

"We've come a long way so far and we've spent a lot of time together... You and Dread are the best friends I could have and the last thing I want to do is treat you in the wrong way."

Dread came up behind me and gently hugged me at the waist, and Althea hugged me from the front around my neck. I was afraid to move... I didn't know what to say or do, and all I could think to do was hug her in return. Once she let go, I did the same to Dread, and faced Owyn, who refused to look me in the eyes.

He took a deep breath. "Alright, alright. This next match is an outrage... But there's nothing I can do about it. The Yellow Team has taken their combatant out."

"That's a good thing, isn't it? That means Eso wins automatically," Solare asked.

"Normally, yeah. But the Yellow Team replaced their combatant..."

"Replaced him with what?" I growled.

"Argonians. Three Argonian prisoners, brought here from Black Marsh. They've been told they have to kill you in exchange for their freedom. I don't know what crimes they've committed but it's your life or their freedom."

Not a single person said a word. I _wanted _ someone to speak. I wanted them to say something.

"Eso..." Althea whispered.

"It's never going to go away..." I said to myself. I turned my back on all of them, and made my way for the field.

"Eso, no! You don't have to do this!" Althea cried.

"Forfeit," Dread suggested.

"It doesn't matter. If I'm not their opponent, someone else will be. And they will kill them."

"So what, that's it?" Solare asked, following me into the stairwell.

"Shut up... Go sit the fuck down or stay out of the way. Fucking Imperials... It's just never going to go away!"

God won't let me forgive myself. He won't let me be happy. He won't let the fucking thought of that war out of my mind for the slightest second. I kicked the door open, slammed it behind me, and walked up to my cage to embrace the early morning sun. I'm going to stop this. I'm going to put an end to all of this right now.

"Good people of the Imperial City, welcome to th-"

"Cold touch," I growled, grabbing the iron bars of the cage one by one, freezing each one over. I pulled my arm back and punched them hard, shattering the frozen cover on the cheap metal.

"...Lower the gates!"

The gates released me from this prison, and threw me into another one. Three Argonian youths stood in front of me at the center of the field. Two crimson males, and one emerald female...

"I told you it was Eso," Growled the tallest male.

I hid my eyes behind my hood.

"What are you doing here?" Demanded the second male.

I remained silent.

"Remember us?" Asked the female, striking me in the face with her closed fist. "Fucking look at us!"

I raised my head, a hand over her strike. They wore rags, collars around the neck, and short swords at their hips. The oldest male wrapped his fingers around my throat and pulled me closer.

"You did this... YOU FUCKING DID THIS TO US!"

His fist struck me hard.

"YOU DID THIS TO ALL OF US!"

He struck me again.

"You promised us..." The youngest cried, punching me again.

"Our home is fucking ruined!" Yelled the other male with a punch hard enough to throw me to the ground.

The audience didn't make a sound.

"Talk, god dammit!" Screamed the oldest with a kick to my side. All of them screamed and beat me...

"Fight back!" Screamed one.

"Say something!" Screamed another.

I lost track of who was speaking. I could only hear the sounds of their sobbing.

"Our parents are dead, our home is destroyed, we're fucking slaves now! All of us are! Because of that stupid war! You promised us!"

"You don't care about us at all, you don't care about Black Marsh at all!"

I shot up from the ground and buried my fist into the face of the one who said that single line. I was on my feet, and she was on the ground.

"I don't care who you are... No one talks to me like that..."

Another tried to punch me but I hit him first, hard enough to stagger him and only that.

"There isn't a damn DAY that goes by when I don't think about it... Not a damn second... YOU CAN'T TELL ME THAT I DON'T CARE!"

"..."

"..."

"This fucking scar on my body proves that I care. Me walking into this fight is proof I care!"

"You're nothing to Black Marsh anymore, Eso... You're nothing to us!" The middle child charged and threw his arm, to be deflected by my crossed wrists.

"I'm not going to hurt you, stop fighting me! Just fucking kill me!"

They all stopped.

"Kill you?"

"If killing me is what the hell it takes. If killing me makes it all okay, makes you forgive me, frees you, then fucking do it! I'd rather die than stay alive one moment longer with this torture!"

One of them walked up to me, and struck me yet again in my face, throwing me to the ground. She pulled her sword free, as all of them did.

"It will never be okay... We will never forgive you... Nothing you do will ever make it okay. Get the fuck up and fight us..."

My body fell numb, and all I knew how to do was laugh.

Althea and Dread held hands with each other, nervous and trembling, and Solare couldn't take her eyes away.

"What the hell are you laughing at... Stand up!" The oldest struck me in the stomach with his foot. I just laid there, laughing.

The burning in my neck, it came back. The tears that fell from my eyes, every drop that hit the ground after streaming down my face was another hundred degrees of pain. My neck was on fire... The right side of my neck was throbbing. Less than a second later I was on my feet. Less than a second later, my katana was free and my hood was off.

The three of them took a step back, scared now of the psychopath they saw before them. Scared of the demonic laughter that refused to stop. I threw my head back and screamed in laughter. I stabbed my katana into the ground, and vanished.

The oldest was the first. He was the target. The instigator. The leader. A heavy punch directly in the center of his face threw him back, launched him against the concrete walls of the Arena. He dropped his sword mid-flight, and I ran after him as he flew back. I stole his sword. I cornered him down. I _pinned _him to the fucking wall with his blade, right through his stomach.

My head was spinning, and I felt something I shouldn't have... Something I didn't deserve to feel. Something I haven't properly felt. Happiness.

The girl was next. She charged at me with tears flowing away. I ducked under her slash, turned at the waist and struck her hard with a kick, knocking her blade from her hands as well. I picked her up from the ground, stole her blade away, pushed her against the wall next to her brother, and dealt her the same ending.

The middle child was terrified. He should be. I chased him down, picked up my own sword in the chase, picked him up by the throat and ran him right into the concrete, cracking the wall and shattering bones. Right between the two hanging bodies, I pinned him down just the same with his own sword.

The announcer began to speak, congratulating me on my victory, stammering over his words in fear. I cut him off with laugher. They weren't dead. They weren't finished. Their eyes still watched me. Their hands still reached for me. Slowly, excited, the edge of my katana dragged along the ground. A foot away from the female, I picked up the steel and thrusted my katana into the wall, level with her elbow. I grabbed the handle tight. They all glanced at me with tear filled eyes. I ran as fast as I could...

"SOUL TRAP"

I ripped the concrete apart, pushing my sword with me, cutting right through the torsos of each Argonian slave. I screamed a harsh cry as I cut through flesh and bone, as I bathed in their blood, as I cut apart the children I promised to protect. A straight line was formed in the wall, along a very wide blood stain. My katana glistened in their blood, shined its dark, crimson light. I heard them screaming for mercy. I heard them screaming for their lives. Now, I'll never stop hearing it.


	14. Chapter 14

_**The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Visage of Morrowind**_

_**Episode Fourteen - Porphyric Hemophilia **_

_**Theme: **__**http://www**__**(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=Z6KilO_AiZU&fmt=18**_

_**Globus - Take Me Away**_

I was supposed to leave, but I couldn't move. I glanced at their bodies, mortified by what I had done. My heart stopped beating, my mind stopped working, my breath stopped flowing. My body was on fire... My neck throbbed quicker than my heart could beat. This wasn't natural... This wasn't right... Smoke actually emitted from my body... I could see Althea and them talking, but I couldn't for the life of me make out a word. I felt everyones eyes stuck on me.

"I knew you'd be a wondrous choice..." Laughed a voice from behind.

I threw my body around with a following scream; I could barely muster words anymore.

There stood a figure, if you could even call it that. All I could see was black, like a living shadow, standing there in the form of a man. I could barely call him a man... He was a demon of the bible, a creature only alive in fiction. Glowing red eyes shined from the darkness, and black wings of the same shadow of the rest of him danced behind his back. His feet hovered over the ground, and he slowly made his way towards me.

"What the fuck are you...?!" I growled, falling to my knees in pain.

"The _sun poisoning_ getting to you?" He laughed. "You'd best get somewhere dark before it eats you away..."

"Sun poisoning... What the fuck are you talking about...?"

"The Orc that none of you paid attention to. Owyn, anyone on the Yellow Team... They belong to me. The pain that keeps you up every night, it's no emotional scar... It's a physical wound."

"You better start making some fucking sense..."

"Relax, _dragon-fish_, I'm about the only friend you're going to have at the end of all this. We're kin of the same mother now. Took you quite a while to show any affects, it's the Argonian's resistance to disease that slowed it, but you look like you turned out quite nicely the way you _murdered_ your own kind."

"What is wrong with Eso...?" Althea asked, as if Dread or Solare knew. They couldn't see what I saw. All they saw was me on the ground, screaming to myself.

Dread got up from her seat and poised herself on the rail of the stands. Solare threw her arm out in front of her, keeping the Bosmer still. "Just wait..."

"You're not real..." I laughed at him. "You're not fucking real..."

He placed a hand over my face, lifting my head up to see my eyes. "You're _infected_ they would say. I call it blessed. You should be thanking me... You belong to the Nightwalker Kinship now..."

The longer I stayed there, paralyzed in the sun, the more I could feel its burn. I tried to shield the most I could with my cloak but not a damn bit of good. I forced my katana into the ground once more, and tried to lift myself up with it.

"How did this happen..." I whispered.

"The 'Grand Champion', Agronak, the Orc that when not beating the sense out of a training dummy, hid from your sight until night time. Every night you slept, every peaceful slumber you pretended to have, he was right there with you... Teeth in your neck, venom in your blood. Owyn met the same fate as you, but he's no where near as strong... He thought he could fight it, and he tried as hard as he could to, but eventually..."

I physically couldn't believe a word. But I felt it. The burn of the sun, the craving... The intense craving... The thirst...

"Maybe you won't accept it right away. Seldom do. But you will... And I can see you will be one of the more promising of my disciples."

"No... Fuck..."

"You have two choices, Eso. Submit, or die right here."

I could feel my consciousness fading far away, and my reach to gain control of myself with it. Guards pounded their feet against the ground in an attempt to get here faster, busting through the door of the bloodworks and running towards me. My hands and knees could barely hold me up, but I wanted to signal them away. The figure only laughed.

"If you don't come with me, you're going to lose it. Those guards are going to die. The audience is going to die. Your friends are going to die. All you have to do is say it... Tell me what you want me to do, dog."

"Make it stop..." I sobbed. "Make it stop... THEY'RE GOING TO DIE! TAKE ME AWAY!"

One final, hearty series of laughter and the man vanished. The four guards worked together and grabbed at my arms, lifting me off of the ground and leaving my sword behind. It was too late for them. I was Eso no longer.

The burning stopped.

I was on my feet.

They were on the ground.

My sword was in my hand.

I laughed.

***

"Don't just sit there!" I screamed at my guards, hoisting my armored body up and over the stands, planting in the dust, hoping to stop this. "Kill him!"

"What are you doing?!" Althea screamed after me, following my example and my steps to the scene. The Bosmer followed right after. "Stop, Solare!"

I couldn't let this go on any longer. It was too late for him from the start, the girls would never understand in any explanation that I forced in that short amount of time. Eso swung his blade down at the guards, and I threw my sprinting body in the way.

The impact of his sword against my chitin shuriken rang in my ears. One each caressed in my palms with one of the three spokes protruding between my middle and ring fingers, they were specially made by my hand. Each blade on the triangle-point star pushed out an inch from my hand and between my fingers, shifting their focus to a quick melee weapon. My pouches were full of them, each pouch a new kind of shuriken in shape and/or material, with a pouch in the back of my belt for daggers. I left my katana in the care of friends; I was hoping I'd never need it.

The pure impact of metal on metal tore the air apart... My hair danced back, the dust shifted beneath us, his cape flew behind him. It took all of the strength in both of my hands to push the sword back.

"Get back!" I ordered the guards. They took off for the door.

Eso's appearance had only slightly changed with the addition of small teeth hanging over his bottom lips and the vanishing of his pupils. He was vampire kin now. I didn't know how he contracted the disease; I was only here because of the katana he was trying so hard to put through me and the essence he gave off... I know this wasn't the time to be impressed, but my work as a chaser often conflicted with my work as an Imperial guard. To be face to face with a vampire once more, one as big of a threat as this... It excited the fighting spirit.

Eso screamed, hoisted the sword above his head and swung down once more, over and over, each deflected with my stars. I could hear Althea screaming for us to stop but neither of us cared. Her words didn't mean a thing right now. The Bosmer didn't speak much, but I could see she was conflicted as well.

"I can explain everything," I assured them with another push to the katana. "You two just need to-"

A heavy slash took me off guard and threw me on my ass. Eso screamed once again like a ravage animal, turned to the girls, and ran for them. I reached for them and threw one of my shuriken as hard as I could from my staggering position.

"Please, stop!" Althea cried, the only thing she had time to cry for... Eso jumped, and Dread quickly stepped in front of the elf, her eyes closed tight.

Eso jumped clear over the girls and up the wall of the stands, impossible for eyes to follow the speed he ran with. He jumped over walls, ran up stairs, destroyed anything in his path until he stood at the very top of the stands, the very peak of the Arena. He turned around to look back at us one more time, the sun concealing all features of his body in dark shadows. His cape flowed behind him slow and calm, his eyes shined from darkness, his tail whipped behind him.

As Dread's eyes slowly peeled open, all of us turned to look at him. The moment felt as if it lasted hours... Every eye of the crowd watched him, every breath of the crowd had silenced, every feeling in the crowd was fear.

He jumped back, and disappeared completely...

Althea's lips quivered, Dread's eyes were wet with tears, and my heart had slowed to stop. My shuriken rested at Dread's feet, weighed down by a small satchel of gold...

"ESO!!" Althea screamed.

* * *

End of Arc One

* * *

Arc Two Preview

Eso's emotional trauma, PTSD, and mental scarring force out an uncontrollable rage, setting loose a monster. Every minute is another memory that Eso can no longer see, another feeling that Eso can no longer feel. Seemingly under the influence of a demonic figure beyond description, the "Nightwalker Kinship", this monster Eso becomes takes the form of a vampire. His appearance changes with time, his blood thirst unquenchable. It rests on the shoulders of Althea Dravasa and Indred Pierce to be the fallen warrior's hero. With the help of the mysterious Solare Veralyn, Imperial Legion guard, and many new and familiar faces of the Oblivion universe, will they save their beloved friend, or save their beloved home? What kind of threat does the Nightwalker Kinship hold for Cyrodiil? Will the three of them be able to take them down for the sake of Tamriel, or is all hope lost before the arc even begins? There's choices to be made, training to be done, tears to shed and hearts to break. Swords connect them, swords will break them apart.

_**The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Visage of Morrowind**_

Written by: Alastor Nightshade


	15. Chapter 15

_**The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Visage of Morrowind**_

_**Arc Two - Episode Fifteen - He's Lucky To Have You**_

_**Opening Theme: **__**http://www**__**(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=RleGG5PG_-s**_

_**Breaking Benjamin - Follow**_

"Pay attention, because I'm about to blow your mind," Solare said, leading us into her home. Dread clung tight to my arm as the two of us, dragging our broken hearts behind us, followed the confident lady. We hardly knew her; We knew nothing about her. But what else did we have to do...

"You two are staying here tonight, we have a lot to talk about. Some shit's about to go down and we're the ones that have to take charge."

"Why don't you slow down a bit..." I sighed. "Please... It's all we can do to not cry right now!"

"We'll talk when we're there," She assured us.

"When we're where? We're in your house," I asked, but she just shook her head. Her house looked completely average until then. In classic Batman style, she pulled down on a candle stick hooked to the wall, sliding open the bookcase next to it, unveiling stairs. That would have been cool at any other time.

"Come," she said. The two of us were unphased. The only thing we wanted was to forget, and have our friend back...

We followed her down the winding stairwell into a candle-lit basement, where a robed Khajiit threw a sheathed katana at her. Solare caught the sword and pointed at us with it, signaling for us to follow her to the only table in the surprising room. In addition to the Khajiit, an Altmer stood in the corner, glancing lazily into his books, and a second Altmer, about Dread's age, sitting in the corner. All men. It was a generally bland room in shape, mortar and concrete, carpeted floors, multiple book shelves, a work desk covered in alchemy supplies, and a rack of blades. Next to this rack was a tall display case, holding beautifully designed, crimson armor with golden textures artistically swept across the cuirass.

"So what, these people live in your baseme-"

Solare clipped the multiple buckles of her armor and let the heavy steel fall from her body. That would have been okay if she wasn't near-naked beneath that... After stripping of the leggings and cuirass, she wore nothing short of her underwear, a surprising white for how intense she acted. Both Dread and mine's face flushed a deep red. I quietly looked back at the Khajiit, and once our eyes met, he had a guilty smile on his face. "Nice," was all I said.

I expected her to put something on after but nope, she flipped the wooden chair in front of her around and sat with her chest against the back, facing the table, waiting for the two of us to sit down. The kid in the corner knelt his head down far, hiding a very red face, but the older Altmer didn't care much.

Who were we to question the fan service?

So we sat down, completely ignoring the elephant in the room. Just looking at her though, especially for Dread, it was hard not to be jealous. Her chest was at least a high C... What the fuck man?

"Where do we even start?" She asked.

"What the hell happened to Eso?"

"Vampire."

"How?"

"Neck bite."

"What are you supposed to be?"

"Vampire hunter."

"... It can't be that simple! What the fuck?!" I punched the table, hard.

"It is that simple."

"It can't be. I used to live with a vampire in the Brotherhood, becoming a vampire doesn't turn you into what Eso turned into!" Dread yelled. For the first time. Ever.

Even the people that didn't know her stared.

"There are different kinds of vampires... Your friend was probably a repressed vampire, lived with and accepted his fate, or maybe even born into the 'dark gift'."

"And what is Eso?"

"Well a number of things could have happened to him. Maybe he went insane before even becoming a vampire... He was psychotic..."

"He was NOT psychotic!" I screamed. "He was troubled. He was depressed. He was up against a fucking corner!"

"I get it, I get it. Sorry," She sighed. "I need to know something."

"What?"

"Why do you care so much?" Solare asked, looking directly at us. "If Eso stays like this, with the skills he has and that katana, no one is stopping him. Becoming a vampire increases your abilities twenty-fold, so if he was a good fucking fighter before, he's an unstoppable monster now. Why not just let him die, or make him someone else's problem? Leaving him to us will make sure he's out of existence and can't kill another man."

"..."

"He almost killed my guards. He killed people in the audience. He almost killed me. He almost killed you."

I threw the bag of gold on the table, furious. "But he didn't. I gave him this as payment for being my bodyguard, and he used it to stop YOUR shuriken from hitting Dread. He jumped over us, not at us. He fought you back, not killed you. I don't know what the fuck he is anymore, a vampire, a demon, a monster, and I don't give a fuck what he is! He's my best friend first! He's Dread's hero first! He's a great man, a powerful fighter, an inspiring leader, he's anything before he's a fucking monster and I will do anything I have to do to bring him back to us. I'll fight vampires, I'll fight you. I'll fight every mother fucker who is responsible for this if it means I get my friend back!"

"Fine," Solare smiled. "All I needed to hear was that you were willing to do what it took. He's lucky to have you," Solare laughed as she stood up, kicking over her chair and throwing her arm at the Altmer. "You! I had you inspect the bloodworks, what did you find?"

"About damn time we get to talk," Hissed the Khajiit.

"No one asked you," She barked at him.

The Altmer sighed. "Well when we got there, both the Redguard and the Orc acted similar to the Argonian. Loud, violent, screaming. We managed to take the Orc out pretty easily but the Redguard was a problem. We held him down until he spoke actual words... He said, 'Kinship', over and over. Called us 'Satanic Daywalkers'. Doesn't help us much."

"There's more of them?" Dread asked.

"What? We're dealing with some kind of fucking cult?" I growled.

"Sounds like it... What happened to the Orc?" Solare asked.

"We had to kill him, he escaped us."

"How the hell are you killing these people so easily? That Orc was the Grand-freaking-Champion!" I asked them.

"They were both novice vampires... Either not trained at all with their gift or just recently converted, like Eso did. When they are in that infant stage, fire magic does wonders."

"Vampires are weak against fire?" I asked again. Solare nodded her head. "Since when? Garlic, sunlight, and wooden sticks maybe..."

"This isn't Dracula, dear," Solare smiled.

"It might as well be some kind of ridiculous fantasy..." I looked to my feet. Solare reached over and grabbed my hand, as did Dread.

"We're going to make it through this. We have a couple of leads, we know somewhat of what we are up against, you have the most experienced group of hunters on your side, and you two love him very much. For that alone, we're going to make sure we do everything we can... There's a lot of things about this guy that interests me... But most of all I think, is how a fat dick like him can have such an influence on someone. I want to be apart of it."

Dread stood up from her chair and quickly walked over to the younger Altmer, all of his body hiding behind white robes and red designs, with a hood raised to barely cover blonde bangs. She sat down in front of him, mimicking his position, and the two just stared at each other. His bangs covered up half of one of his bright blue eyes, but he was pretty cute for a kid. I could barely tell he was an Altmer, and not just a blonde Imperial. It was also the first time I saw Dread smile at a stranger.

I had such a passionate response to Solare's comment, but had completely let it slip my mind after watching Dread. The boy seemed just as quiet as she was, just as shy and to himself. He was smiling back at her.

"Is there something we can do...?" I hesitantly asked.

"Can't stop kids from crushing," Solare laughed.

"No, idiot ass, about Eso!" My hand was sore from hitting the table so much.

"That's our first objective. The Arcane University, just south of the Imperial City districts. Porphyric Hemophilia is a disease just like anything else. We talk to the best alchemist we can think of and go from there."

"You don't seem all that worried... Is it safe to take that as a good sign?"

"You're asking a lady in her underwear if her word is reliable. I think you're in good hands with me," She teased. "Listen, no point in getting worried until we know we have a problem, alright? Stress out now, and you'll drive yourself as mad as Eso acted. As far as we know, it could be just as easy as giving him a potion. This cult shit, it's all in the gossip stage, okay? When we have something to fight about, I'll be the first with my fists up. I'll be flailing around until we figure it all out."

I just stared at her.

"Within the first ten minutes that I met him, he told me: 'You Imperial Legion guards. You act like there's a unity amongst you, like you hold some kind of honor and respect for one another when really it's everyone for themselves, isn't it?'. And when he said that, it got to me. I was working for a unity that was never there, and held tight to a friendship that didn't exist. Made me think how nice it would be to have something like that... People I can fight for, that would fight for me, that I could be proud of drawing my blade for," She smiled at me, put her leg up on the table, leaned against her knee, and offered me her hand. "So I ask you to trust me. Let me know what that unity feels like, and I'll fight for your cause as long as I can hold a sword."

It took me a minute. A full minute of stares and smiles from everyone in the room. I fought back emotional tears at the thought of the worst, but her hand was almost comforting... I grabbed tight, and smiled back at her. "Let's get him back to us."


	16. Chapter 16

_**The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Visage of Morrowind**_

_**Arc Two - Episode Sixteen - Savage Fiancée**_

_**Opening Theme: **__**http://www**__**(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=RleGG5PG_-s**_

_**Breaking Benjamin - Follow**_

"Shiiiiitttttt" He screamed, almost breaking through the door and slamming it behind him. Frightened, with my heart racing a mile, I shot up from my bed and quickly slipped my blade and sheath onto my belt. Dread just sat up in hers, rubbing at her eyes with wide yawns to follow.

"What the hell Lucien..." I yawned, staggering with fatigue. "It's like three in the morning... No one killed anybody..."

"Eso did," He panted, hiding behind his hood with a very worried face on display. "Eso killed a lot of 'anybodies'..."

"FUCKING LUCIEN!" A woman screamed, approaching closer and closer, up the stairs and against the door, pounding at it with her fists and knees. Lucien laughed heartily, assuming he was safe behind cheap wood.

"What the hell is going on?!"

She stood back and kicked the door as hard as she could, shattering the wood against Lucien's back and throwing him to the ground. Less than a second after that, I was up against the wall, a tight, cold grip on my throat and my feet off the ground. The nightstand fell over, taking a candle to the ground with it. I couldn't even cough a word to her. All I could see were shining green eyes in the darkness, scales and teeth, a tail behind her, and boney spines from the side of her head. I think she was crying...

"Ocheeva, calm the hell down!" Lucien growled, forcing himself up from the minor wooden wreckage.

"I'm done letting you handle things, Lucien! You were supposed to be taking care of him! But you left it in the hands of this fucking little girl!" She screamed. "Look what the fuck happened to him!"

"It's not her fault!"

I could feel her grip loosening, allowing me to breath finally... My heart kicked twice as fast at the lack of air. My hands reached for hers, trying to pry myself free.

"It's all of your faults... I didn't come all of the way here to talk!" She screamed again, throwing her fist in my face and slamming me against the wall. Now I wanted to cry...

"I'm done doing this. I'm done leaving it in the hands of other people! I didn't stay with him before and look what the hell happened to him! The scar on his body, that's MY fault. If I had stayed and fought with him, or if I had made him come with me, none of this shit would have happened! And now look!" Ocheeva ranted, crying with every word. "Because I left Eso in Lucien's hands, who left him in YOUR hands, he's a fucking psychopath! I'm not standing on the sidelines anymore, I'm getting revenge for him!"

"Think about what you're doing, idiot," Lucien tried his best to pull her off of me, throwing me to the ground when she finally let go. I held on to my neck and caressed the damage. "These girls are probably the only people who kept Eso sane. And they're not leaving it here. They want to help him just as much as you do."

"No one wants to help him as much as I do."

"What are you going to do that these girls can't?"

"I'm a better fighter than them. Eso knows me more. I have more connections than them. We have more knowledge of vampirism, we know what we're dealing with, they're inexperienced!"

"Dread is one of us, and Althea has spent enough time around Eso to have picked something up I'm sure."

She growled a bit.

"Listen... Please. I know it's hard to hear. But there's a reason he left a second time."

"What are you talking about?"

"The Sanctuary. There's a reason he left us for them."

Ocheeva didn't speak.

None of us did. None of us even moved, until I spoke...

"Ocheeva..." was all I said, slowly rising to my feet.

"Fine..." She reached for her belt, pulling a small dagger free from its holster. "If Eso has taught you anything, or rubbed off on you at all, fucking show me..." She growled one more time before turning quick, and bashing her fist against my chest, throwing me into the wall once again.

I didn't even get the time to argue, or reach for my blade. Every second that went by that I wasn't being hit, was another second of getting hit. She picked me up by my shirt and dragged me to the wide window. She pushed my back up against it, looked at my bleeding face, smiled, and punched me again.

The window gave in behind me, and with a push from her she threw me from the first floor outside to the dust. My face hit the ground and before I could even _attempt_ to move, Ocheeva was on my back, bashing her foot against the small of my spine over and over. Lucien didn't make the attempt to help, and while Dread did get up to interfere, Lucien stopped her.

I never really knew what it was like to fight for my life... Something Eso did everyday seemed unnecessary to me... I have never been forced to raise my sword or cast a spell, I'd just run away. Only recently has Eso been there to save me but I've already become so accustomed to it. She jumped off of me, struck me in the side and sheathed her knife.

"Eso could best me any day, under any condition, with any weapon... He hasn't even scratched the surface with you..." She picked me up by the back of my collar, threw me a couple feet back, and left me there to roll on my back. My head had been bleeding, my ribs were probably broken... My throat hurt from screaming so much... I couldn't move a damned muscle, and I hadn't even struck her. Everything rushed in at once... I understood everything she was trying to say... I wasn't superhuman, I wasn't a soldier or an assassin... I wasn't anyone. I was just a fucking street thief hiding behind others to protect me when I get into something too big for me... There was no way I could ever beat Eso in a fight... Nor Dread, nor Lucien... I can't hunt vampires, I'm not fit to hold a sword... what the hell did I have...?

Ocheeva stood there and stared at my body, her flashing green eyes showing her ferocity. Compared to her, I really was nothing... I wanted to believe Eso rubbed off on me, and that I learned something more than morale values and the wonderful feeling of having a friend... I should have spent more time with him... Maybe I would have learned more, maybe he wouldn't be the way he is now if not for me... I'm sorry, Eso...

"You're revoked of your position... Just stay the hell out of my way, go back home. No one needs you. Dread, Lucien, and I will take care of everything here."

She began to turn her back. It was then, the green in her eyes had faded away. There it is.

Everything that happened within the next five seconds astonished everyone that watched. Dread's mouth hung open, Lucien almost died laughing, and Ocheeva froze in her steps, a petrified gaze on her face, staring directly in front of her. Waves of cold danced through her body as the ice slipped between her arm and side, not making a single cut. The same way Cold Touch formed stakes out of broken daggers, it froze over my short sword and took over its shape, thickening a blade of ice, extending the length of a simple short sword into a frozen scimitar. The shine of green eyes bathed against the back of her neck.

"None of us here are Khajiit... We can't see in the dark. Your night eye technique lasted a very long time, but because it's not natural to us, it goes away eventually... Mine may only last for ten seconds, but it's ten seconds that you couldn't see. That you turned your back on me. That you decided to fuck with me... I could have killed you. I could have pierced this frozen sword through your heart and never have to hear you defame me ever again... Eso taught me through example how to observe, how to take control... The lessons I learned from him, they're emotional, they're powerful, but they're not to kill people with."

"..."

"Listen to me. I'm sorry. You're completely right, and I blame myself one hundred percent... But I'm willing to do anything I have to do to make sure he comes back to me. To make sure he comes back to us," I threw the sword to the ground and took a step away from her. "Help us fight... Don't fight against us. That... Or just stay the hell out of _my_ way..."

When Ocheeva turned to face me, I was on my back, eyes closed and in mind numbing pain. Dread jumped through the window and ran to my side. She glared at Ocheeva, lifted me up in her arms, and walked off down the dusted streets, to the nearest apothecary.

"Well. What do you say to that, Ocheeva?"

Solare lazily slumped into our room, clad in the thinnest nightgown, rubbing the fatigue from her eyes to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

"..."


End file.
